The MP who branded James Murdoch a Mafia boss today claimed "far more" shocking revelations about media mis- conduct will emerge. Tom Watson told the Standard he believes the mistreatment of Milly Dowler's family is just one of many scandals involving illegal eavesdropping."There is far more to come out," said Mr Watson, who added he was optimistic that the Leveson inquiry will get to the truth. "They seem hell-bent on getting all this stuff out quickly and clearly have access to more than I could see."
Two years of investigations climaxed last week when the MP confronted News International chairman Mr Murdoch at a hearing of the Culture Select Committee - and called him the first Mafia boss not to realise he was running a criminal enterprise.
His jibe produced sharp intakes of breath from others in the room.
"I expected criticism but I think most people know I feel pretty strongly about this," he said. "It's something I've spent two years on and maybe I was revealing a frustration with the process."
He was nervous at the committee session. "I also had a huge dilemma as I had information from Neville Thurlbeck [an ex-News of the World reporter] that he'd asked me not to make public," he said. "In a sense I felt obligated not to reveal it but there was a higher obligation to the public interest to get it out."
A week later he is still unsure whether Mr Murdoch told the truth. "He has admitted wrongdoing happened on his watch and pointed the finger at others for failing to inform him," he said. "But why on earth didn't he ask some basic questions?"
Mr Watson, 44, is a complicated hero, with the ebullience of a schoolboy and, ironically, the frame of a Mafia heavy.
He is the son of a Sheffield union convenor and went into politics as a trainee library assistant at Labour's old Walworth Road HQ in London.
He resigned twice as a minister - once in 2006 in the Brownite plot to oust Tony Blair, then again in 2009 when he became "sick of the intolerable pressure and occasional vacuity of modern politics". He even considered leaving the Commons at the 2010 election.
Looking for a new role, he stumbled onto the Culture Select Committee just as the hacking scandal was taking off. It became his vocation....read more
