Hugh Grant backs Prince Harry’s call for fresh police investigation into Rupert Murdoch’s media empire

Hugh Grant has backed Prince Harry’s call for a fresh police investigation into Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.

The actor called on Sir Keir Starmer to show leadership and stop “criminal abuse by big corporations” after the prince won a multi-million pound settlement this week over claims against The Sun newspaper.

Mr Grant accepted a large settlement from Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers (NGN) last year after dropping his own claim of being illegally targeted by The Sun.

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Prince Harry’s settlement came after NGN admitted for the first time that The Sun had been involved in an intrusion into his private life. In the past it had said it was restricted to the News of the World which closed in 2011 as a result of the phone hacking scandal.

Mr Grant said he and Prince Harry were determined to “get at the real truth” but had been prevented from doing so because NGN had “gamed the system” by paying more than ?1 billion in settlements to hacking victims to avoid court proceedings.

Mr Grant told the BBC that in the light of Prince Harry’s settlement the CPS and police should launch a new criminal investigation.

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“That was the aim of the Prince Harry case as I understand it and it was certainly my original aim,” he said. “We need leadership from the prime minister. If a government is there for anything, particularly a Labour government, it is to protect the public from the abuses of criminality by big corporations.”

Mr Grant criticised Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of NGN, who is a former editor of The Sun.

“The people who were giving the orders are still there in positions of great power - in fact the CEO of NGN was editor of The Sun at the time when, as they have now admitted, it was indulging in criminality.”

Mr Grant said that he and other members of the Hacked Off group who have campaigned for tougher curbs on press abuses did not think sufficient action had been taken to stop it happening again or to hold those responsible to account.

”We do not think it is job done by any means,” he said.

Speaking outside the court after the settlement was announced, Prince Harry’s fellow claimant former Labour deputy leader Lord Tom Watson questioned whether the head of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Mark Rowley, would take action when he receives a dossier of information linked to the case.

Sir Mark was asked on LBC on Friday morning if there will be a criminal investigation into NGN.

He said: “There was a massive series of investigations done sort of a decade or so ago, finished more recently than that… many, many millions of pounds.

“Hundreds of officers have been involved for a long period of time. There were many prosecutions. Those investigations were closed.

“If they send us a bundle of material, we’ll reflect on that and make our judgment.

“Much of the material in the civil litigation actually came from those investigations and was requested through legal processes by the litigants.”

NGN has denied the allegations but issued an apology to Harry as the settlement was announced on Wednesday.

The statement said: “NGN offers a full and unequivocal apology to the Duke of Sussex for the serious intrusion by The Sun between 1996 and 2011 into his private life, including incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for The Sun.

“NGN also offers a full and unequivocal apology to the Duke of Sussex for the phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists and private investigators instructed by them at the News of the World.

“NGN further apologises to the Duke for the impact on him of the extensive coverage and serious intrusion into his private life as well as the private life of Diana, Princess of Wales, his late mother, in particular during his younger years.

“We acknowledge and apologise for the distress caused to the Duke, and the damage inflicted on relationships, friendships and family, and have agreed to pay him substantial damages.”