• Labour MP Tom Watson said he wanted to know what emails and text messages were sent from the 'secret' phones
  • Questions raised over whether they were declared to the Leveson Inquiry
  • They could reveal how much contact the Murdochs had with Downing Street over BSkyB bid

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 04:09 EST, 17 June 2012 | UPDATED: 01:45 EST, 18 June 2012


James Murdoch makes use of a second phone

James Murdoch makes use of a second phone

James Murdoch has come under fire over fresh revelations that he and other News International bosses made use of a second mobile phone.

It is believed the former chairman and three other executives received new iPhones in 2009, in addition to their existing phones.

Questions are now being asked about whether the executives disclosed their existence to the Leveson Inquiry into media standards.

According to the Sunday Mirror the monthly bill for the four phones regularly exceeded 1,000 and reached more than 3,000 the month following David Cameron's announcement of the inquiry into press ethics last July.

The phones are thought to be supplied by O2 and not Vodafone which is News International's usual supplier.

There is no suggestion the phones were used for phone hacking but it is believed they could reveal just how much contact the Murdochs had with Downing Street in their failed bid to take over BSkyB.

One of the phones, including Mr Murdoch's, is still thought to be active while the other two have been disconnected.

Labour MP Tom Watson, who has waged a personal campaign against the Murdochs, said he would call on News International to explain why senior executives needed second phones.

He also raised questions over the content of the phones and asked whether the Leveson Inquiry had been made aware of them.

'Now that we know James Murdoch has a secret second iPhone I hope he will disclose the content of text messages and emails to the Leveson Inquiry and the police,' he said.

Tom Watson has called for James Murdoch to reveal the existence of his second phone to the Leveson Inquiry

Tom Watson has called for James Murdoch to reveal the existence of his second phone to the Leveson Inquiry

'I'd like to know whether he used the secret phones to discuss the parliamentary inquiry with the other senior executives who were issued phones.'

A News International source confirmed the existence of the phones but said they were only acquired because they were a new development in the media industry.

The source added they were supplied by O2 because it was the only UK network supplying the new iPhone at the time.

A spokesman for the company declined to comment.


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I wonder if we'll ever get the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth in this sorry saga?

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do we really care how many phones people have. the real reason we have all this mess in the world today is because the big boy's look after each other. i do not believe for one moment people in authority were not aware of what was happening at news international. this enquiry is a waste of our mobey because nothing will change.

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I have a secret phone!

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Surprise surprise

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So WHAT is watson upset he has only one phone

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A 'secret phone' is no secret to the spooks. They can track the movement of any switched-on cellphone - it would only take a while for them to realise that someone's official phone was ALWAYS within a yard of another unregistered phone. Within a week at most they'd be monitoring the two as one.

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There are more important matters to British families than Tom Watson's crusade against Murdoch and the London 'elite's' obsession with itself. I would like our govt to be focussed on the economy and the imploding EU rather than this narcicistic indulgence.

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'there is no suggestion that the phones were used for hacking' ... then why is this a story! all governments and companies have so called secret phones! NOT a story DM

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Well there's a surprise!!! Why would you ever have needed to make any "secret" phone calls? LOL

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