Phone hacking: live report - update 1

1154 GMT: "I have no information that the Metropolitan Police was engaged in a conspiracy" to hush up phone hacking, he says, adding that he received repeated assurances that there was nothing new in the Guardian\'s 2009 reports.

1151 GMT: Asked why his Champneys stay does not yet appear in the Met police\'s hospitality files, Stephenson said: "I made sure it was put in the hospitality register and it will be published in the next quarter\'s publication."

1148 GMT: Around 40 members of the public were queueing up outside Portcullis House, a modern office block across the road from the Houses of Parliament, where Rupert and James Murdoch are due to be questioned.

Rupert Murdoch, Australian-born chairman and chief executive of his News Corporation global media empire, is due to appear in the Wilson Room at 2:30pm (1330 GMT).

Murdoch\'s car was mobbed by photographers as it arrived at the building and then sped off again. It was not clear if he had managed to get in another way.

1147 GMT: Stephenson says he was told that News International publications had 42 percent of newspaper readership and so he thought it was important to have a relationship with him.

1144 GMT: Did you try and persuade The Guardian that its coverage of phone hacking was exaggerated?

"Yes. Mr Yates gave me assurances that there was nothing new in the Guardian\'s report. Mr Yates will tell you that himself."

1141 GMT: James Clappison MP asks about Stephenson\'s 18 dinners with News International staff and seven or eight with Wallis. "Was that necessary?"

Stephenson: "We meet with media to enhance the reputation of the Met," establish context and several other reasons.

"But I accept that we need to change the way we do it."

1139 GMT: David Winnick MP: "Is it not inappropriate for any police officer to receive substantial hospitality?" like the commissioner\'s five week stay at Champneys.

Stephenson: "It was a family connection. It was very generous. It enabled me to get back to work. It was not a secret. It was declared."

1136 GMT: "I don\'t agree" that accepting hospitality from Champneys health farm was not the best thing to do. "I had a serious injury and was wheelchair bound.I wanted to get back to work as soon as possible."

1132 GMT: Nicola Blackwood MP cites a 2006 report which found evidence of "widespread and organised undercover marketing of confidential information" to the media.

It identified 228 transactions with various newspapers including the News of the World., she says, asking him whether that did not mean he should have taken phone hacking more seriously.

Stephenson says "even with that report" phone hacking was not a major priorioty like counter terrorism operations and Stephen Lawrence.

1128 GMT: "I most certainly did not tell the Mayor" (Boris Johnson) about the imminent arrest of Rebekah Brooks. The reason is that I would not want to compromise the Mayor ."

1121 GMT: Stephenson says he knew of Rebekah Brooks\' arrest "maybe a day or two days" beforehand. "That is entirely proper."

Of his failure to report the hiring of Wallis to Home Secretary Theresa May, he said: "I\'m fully aware it has been interpreted negatively."

Stephenson said the contract with Wallis only became relevant when he was linked to the phone hacking investigation.

But "there was no suggestion that Wallis was involved in phone hacking. News International said it was a tiny issue."

1120 GMT: He was given assurance by a senior police officer that there was nothing new in the phone hacking investigation, so saw no need to query the appointment of Wallis.

1116 GMT: When he took office as commissioner he asked for briefings on various subjects from counter terrorism to the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence but never thought that phone hacking was a major problem, so never looked into it.

1114 GMT: On Prime Minister David Cameron\'s employment of former News of the World editor Andy Coulson, Stephenson denied having taken a swipe at Cameron in his resignation statement.

But he added: "Wallis was never employed to provide personal advice to me. He was employed in a minor role."

"When Coulson resigned as News of the World editor he was associating his name with hacking" whereas Wallis had never at that time been linked to hacking.

1113 GMT: His resignation was against the advice of many people "including my wife".

1111 GMT: He is "not apologetic" for his stay at Champneys health farm but when he became aware that Neil Wallis was connected with Champneys he felt it was significant.

1110 GMT: Stephenson says a decision had to be made quickly because of the importance of the build up to next year\'s London Olympics.

1108: GMT: Stephenson: "When I took the post I was clear that I would never allow the story to be about me. Clearly there have been very significant stories about me."

1107 GMT: Committee chairman Keith Vaz MP says he was invited to the News International summer party but did not attend.

1105 GMT: People enter the Grimond Room, where the Home Affairs Committee will meet, and take their seats.

1104 GMT: Labour leader Ed Miliband tweets: "What people will want to know is whether James and Rupert Murdoch have some remorse for what happened and to account for what they knew."

1102 GMT: Max Beckham, 21, a student from London, was at the front of the public queue for the Culture committee hearing at Portcullis House in Westminster after being the first to arrive at 6.30 am.

"I\'m looking forward to seeing Rupert Murdoch - he\'s the one at the top so to have him under the spotlight is important.

"I don\'t think a lot is going to come out of it though - he\'s a professional, he knows what he\'s doing," Max says. "But I want to be here for the atmosphere and because it\'s a historic occasion."

1100 GMT: Welcome to AFP\'s live report on hearings by two British parliamentary select committees into phone hacking at the News of the World and alleged payment of police officers.

The Home Affairs Committee, beginning at 12 noon, will quiz Sir Paul Stephenson, who has resigned as Metropolitan Police Commissioner after the revelation that the Metropolitan Police hired former News of the World Neil Wallis as a consultant.

Also facing questioning by that committee is John Yates, who stood down yesterday as Assistant Commissioner at the Met and Dick Fedorcio, the Met\'s Director of Public Affairs and Internal Communication.

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee, starting at 2.30 pm, will grill Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corporation, and his son James, chairman of UK subsidiary News International, through which the group owned the News of the World.

Rebecca Brooks, former News International chief executive, will also appear, despite having been arrested on Sunday and interviewed by police for several hours.

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