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Piers Morgan launches staunch defence against phone hacking allegations through Twitter

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By The Drum Team, Editorial

July 19, 2011 | 2 min read

Piers Morgan, former editor of the Daily Mirror, has launched a staunch defence of himself against claims of news hacking during today’s interview of the Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks by a parliamentary committee.

In questioning all three, Conservative MP Louise Mensch claimed that Morgan had described in his autobiography his use of phone hacking to scoop the Sven Goran Erickson affair with Ulrika Johnson, which won him an award for Scoop of the Year.

This led Morgan to quickly tweet several denials of the claims.

His first tweet read: “That MP just claimed I boasted in my book of using phone-hacking for a scoop. Complete nonsense. Just read the book.”

This was with a full rebuttal just minutes later: “I've never hacked a phone, told anyone to hack a phone, or published any stories based on the hacking of a phone.”

Three more tweets soon followed; “I wrote in my book that someone warned me phones could be hacked, so I changed my pin number. That's it.”

Followed by “Ms Mensch is completely and utterly wrong. She clearly hasn't read my book. Can someone please give her a copy?”

And then “To all reporters now chasing this MP's claim - the book is called The Insider: Private Diaries of a Scandalous Decade. Great read.”

Questions around how Morgan obtained the story have already been asked by MPs who have demanded that he is questioned as part of the investigation.

In response to his tweets, Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand responded: “I believe you fella... many wouldn't but I do! I sense some wet patches under the #moobs”

Piers Morgan Rupert Murdoch

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