Yesterday, in his statement to the Commons, David Cameron responded to a question from
Labour MP Helen Goodman about Andy Coulson by saying:
‘He was vetted. He had a basic level of vetting. He was not able to see the most secret documents in the Government. I can write to the hon. Lady if she wants the full details of that vetting. It was all done in the proper way. He was subject to the special advisers’ code of conduct. As someone shouted from behind me, he obeyed that code, unlike Damian McBride.’
The story has developed since then. Channel Four have been told by unidentified sources that Coulson’s lack of top level clearance would have impaired him from doing his job, and Michael Crick has been digging around and found that Damian McBride and Alistair Campbell received the highest grade of vetting.
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