Phone hacking: I warned No 10 over Coulson appointment, says AshdownLib Dem peer advised that decision would cause 'terrible damage' after being briefed about NoW former editor's pastToby Helm and Daniel Boffey
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 9 July 2011 19.22 BST
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The crisis engulfing David Cameron over phone hacking deepened on Saturday as Paddy Ashdown revealed that he had warned No 10 only days after the general election of "terrible damage" to the coalition if he employed Andy Coulson in Downing Street.The former Liberal Democrat leader, who had been extensively briefed on details that had not been made public for legal reasons, was so convinced that the truth would eventually emerge that he contacted the prime minister's office.
Ashdown, a key player as the Liberal Democrats agonised over whether to join in a coalition with the Tories, told the Observer that, based on what he had been told, it was obvious Coulson's appointment as Cameron's director of communications would be a disaster.
"I warned No 10 within days of the election that they would suffer terrible damage if they did not get rid of Coulson, when these things came out, as it was inevitable they would," he said.
But Cameron refused to heed the advice and recruited the former News of the World editor, who was arrested by police on Friday over his role in the scandal, to be his right-hand man in charge of the media at No 10.
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More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/09/phone-hacking-andy-coulson-paddy-ashdown:kick: