Piers Morgan dragged into phone hacking uproar over Ulrika affair story
Morgan explains in a book just how easy it is to hack a mobile phone. Now MPs want to question him under oath
A blog written under the name Guido Fawkes, points out that Morgan was the editor of the Mirror when it ran the story in 2002 of an affair between TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson and then coach of England football Sven Goran Eriksson.
The blog alleges that the revelation was the result of the hacking of Jonsson’s phone and that Morgan was likely aware of it -- though the Mirror has denied such allegations. The blog quotes a book Morgan has written on the UK tabloid newspaper business. Piers writes: “Apparently if you don’t change the standard security code that every (mobile) phone comes with, then anyone can call your number and, if you don’t answer, tap in the standard four digit code to hear all your messages. I’ll change mine just in case, but it makes me wonder how many public figures and celebrities are aware of this little trick." Some British MPs now say that Morgan should be questioned for what he knows about hacking by British tabloids. The Daily Telegraph quotes Aidan Burley, Conservative MP for Cannock Chase: “Piers Morgan should be called to the phone-hacking inquiry to face questions on oath.” Adrian Sanders, the Liberal-Democrat MP for Torbay, has already linked the Daily Mirror to the scandal. Piers Morgan ran the Sun's Bizarre gossip column before becoming the News of the World's youngest ever editor at 28. His Wikipedia entry says, that on the NoW, " He quickly gained notoriety for his invasive, thrusting style and lack of concern for celebrities' right to privacy, claiming that they could not manipulate the media to further their own ends without accepting the consequences of a two way deal." Morgan, now also a judge in America's Got Talent, has made no comment on the hacking scandal yet. But he did express regret over the arrest of his friend Andy Coulson, the former editor of the News of the World.