Politicians in bed with Press, says Milly sister

THE sister of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler yesterday attacked the ‘incestuous’ relationship between senior politicians and the Press.

Gemma Dowler, 28, said she wanted to make sure ‘something good’ came out of the phone hacking scandal and called on David Cameron to keep his promises over press regulation.

Revelations that the News of the World hacked Milly’s phone during the hunt for her sparked outrage and were a major factor in the decision to launch the Leveson Inquiry into Press standards.

In a video released following the phone hacking verdicts, Miss Dowler, below, said her family had remained silent to ensure the defendants got a fair trial. ‘ But now that it’s over, I want to speak out about what I think should happen next to make sure t hat s omething good comes out of these terrible events,’ she said.

‘Ordinary people have suffered terribly from journalists who recklessly intruded into private grief.’ She described Ipso, the new watchdog backed by most of the industry, as meaningless, adding: ‘This is j ust the newspapers looking after themselves.’

News of the World proprietor Rupert Murdoch apologised to the Dowler family and they were given £2million in an agreed compensation settlement, with a further £1million to a charity in Milly’s memory. But the most shocking allegation made in the Guardian newspaper – that an employee of the now defunct tabloid deliberately deleted messages on her phone to make room for more, giving her family false hope she was alive – turned out to be untrue.

Speaking on the video at a press conference organised by Hacked Off, which campaigns for stateimposed press regulation, Miss Dowler said: ‘There are other, equally worrying, problems. Most important and damaging of all is the incestuous relationship between our top politicians and the Press.

‘For example Tony Blair, the prime minister when Milly disappeared, didn’t phone us when he heard that Milly’s phone had been hacked. But when he heard that the police were investigating (former News of the World editor) Rebekah Brooks, he phoned her to offer his support.

‘Three long years have passed since my meeting with David Cameron and the other party leaders.

‘We were pleased that he was prepared to initiate the Leveson Inquiry into Press ethics. However, I have not forgotten the promises that were made.’

Mr Cameron’s official spokesman said: ‘ His response ... will firstly be to acknowledge the pain, suffering and distress that victims have suffered.’

KATE Middleton’s mother Carole was the victim of phone hacking, it was reported yesterday. Mrs Middleton, the Countess of Wessex and the Duchess of York were all targeted by hackers at the News of the World, the BBC claimed.