Was Gordon Brown spied over while in office?

Former British Gordon Brown called police in over fears his phone was hacked while he was in office, it was revealed yesterday.

But the Metropolitan Police have still not given the former PM an answer – months after he made the inquiry.

Brown’s fears were revealed as senior Labour figures blasted the police handling of alleged illegal phone hacking by newspapers.

PM David Cameron’s top spin doctor, Andy Coulson, was forced to resign from his Downing Street job on Friday amid continuing allegations about phone hacking at the News of the World during his time as editor there.

Coulson has denied knowledge of any hacking when he was editor. But the news that a former PM believed his mobile messages might have been intercepted has put the issue under the spotlight again.

Brown wrote a letter to police about the issue last summer, sources close to him have confirmed.

Other politicians, including Peter Mandelson and John Prescott, and celebrities including actress Sienna Miller, are taking civil court action over allegations their phone messages were hacked.

Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman said yesterday: “Hacking into people’s phones is illegal. The criminal law has got to be complied with and if it is broken, then it should be investigated by the police and it should be enforced.

“Nobody is above the law – no newspaper editor, no journalist.”

Tony Blair’s former Downing Street spin doctor Alastair Campbell also denounced the “lacklustre” way in which the police had investigated the phone hacking allegations.

He said: “When you compare and contrast the way the police pursued Tony Blair on the so-called cash-for-honours nonsense and the lacklustre way in which they handled this, there is a very big difference. There must be reasons behind that which will, I think, become part of an unfolding scandal.”

Meanwhile, a media lawyer has claimed the phone-hacking allegations were not confined to one newspaper.

Mark Lewis said he was representing four people who believe they were targeted by other newspapers.

Energy Secretary Chris Huhne yesterday attacked the News Of The World’s claim that the phone hacking which led to their royal correspondent being sacked was a one-off.

Huhne said: “It seems to be totally implausible that this was … limited to one journalist.

“I was rather surprised the police accepted that story rather than investigate it further.”

The Met declined to comment on individual cases.

LANXESS Expands Political Communication Worldwide

The first step is the expansion of the group’s presence in Berlin with the move to a new liaison office in Germany’s capital, Berlin, that will open on January 20 prior to the “LANXESS Kick-Off Berlin 2011” event. The group further plans to open its own office in Brussels in spring 2011.

LANXESS is also intensifying the political dialogue in its global growth markets on relevant issues in the area of energy and environmental policy, and in the university and education sector. These efforts primarily target the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) as well as South Korea, Japan, Singapore and the United States.

“Maintaining a continuous exchange with political and social leaders is an integral part of corporate responsibility at LANXESS. By increasing our involvement, we want to shape political and social processes more actively and internationally than before, and establish the framework conditions required for sustainable development,” explains Christoph Sieder, Head of Corporate Communications at LANXESS AG.

LANXESS’ political communication focuses on the discussion of issues affecting corporate strategy, including eco-friendly product and process innovations, the development of raw material and energy markets, and labor market and educational issues.

New Public Affairs team

To support its expanded activities, the group has appointed a new Public Affairs team. The new office in Berlin will also be headed by Johannes Neukirchen. Formerly head of a government ministerial department, he has already represented the Group’s interests in the capital city in the past. He will now be supported by Benjamin Simonic, who transferred to LANXESS from the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI). The new representative for LANXESS in Brussels is Stefan Borst, previously EU correspondent for the German news magazine Focus. Silke Jansen will continue to be responsible for political communication at LANXESS’ German production locations and to head up the global education initiative. Axel Vassen will coordinate all global-level activities relating to public affairs and corporate responsibility. Responsible overall for the field of Public Affairs is Christoph Sieder, Head of Corporate Communications at LANXESS.

LANXESS is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 5.06 billion in 2009 and currently around 14,500 employees in 23 countries. The company is represented at 42 production sites worldwide. The core business of LANXESS is the development, manufacturing and marketing of plastics, rubber, intermediates and specialty chemicals.