This scandal will inflict huge reputational damage on the police

There’s only one thing that anyone in Westminster is talking about and that’s phone hacking. But one thing worth noting is that in every conversation I have had on the subject, MPs and Ministers have stressed that the police must not be let off the hook.

For some on the Labour side—as John McTernan blogs with feeling—this is personal. But for the majority of parliamentarians, there’s just a feeling that certain policemen have been too easily corrupted, for too long.

If newspapers were paying police, then the newspapers have obviously behaved badly. But those who accepted bribes are guilty of a far larger breach of the public trust. I suspect that by the end of this process the reputation of the police could have suffered as much damage as that of journalism already has.