Jaw-dropping sentence in Paul Stephenson’s resignation note:
Secondly, once Mr Wallis’s name did become associated with Operation Weeting, I did not want to compromise the Prime Minister in any way by revealing or discussing a potential suspect who clearly had a close relationship with Mr Coulson.
He goes on:
I am aware of the many political exchanges in relation to Mr Coulson’s previous employment – I believe it would have been extraordinarily clumsy of me to have exposed the Prime Minister, or by association the Home Secretary, to any accusation, however unfair, as a consequence of them being in possession of operational information in this regard.
This puts Cameron’s decision to pick Andy Coulson and bring him to the centre of Government back at the very heart of the story.
All this on the same day as the Mail on Sunday implied that Cameron’s decision to choose Andy Coulson over Guto Harry was taken on the instructions of Rebekah Brooks.