Jon Trickett, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, is writing a letter to the head of the civil service to ask questions about Andy Coulson over allegations of illegal phone-hacking at News of the World.
Mr Trickett is to seek assurances from Sir Gus O’Donnell that no civil service time has been spent advising Mr Coulson, who is director of communications for David Cameron, in relation to the scandal that occurred while he was editor of the Sunday paper.
A Conservative official said last night that the questions were irrelevant, given that there had been “no intervention” by any civil servants on the matter.
Labour is seeking to keep up the pressure on Mr Coulson, who spoke to police investigating the phone-hacking allegations on Thursday after voluntarily meeting them at his solicitor’s offices. He had offered to talk to the police two months ago, according to Downing Street, and was not cautioned or arrested.
…more at the Financial Times
