2009–2011 News of the World phone hacking scandal investigations involvement of Ian Edmondson, a senior editor at the paper, in work undertaken by Mulcaire. Beginning on 8 July 2009, "The Guardian" made a series of allegations that the phone hacking activities at the "News of the World" went far beyond the activities for which the "News of the World" royal editor Clive Goodman was jailed in 2007, those activities being limited to members of the royal household. The paper alleged that hacking victims included public figures such as former deputy prime minister John Prescott, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, Tessa Jowell when she was Olympics Secretary, Boris Johnson when
2009–2011 News of the World phone hacking scandal investigations in bringing the revelations about phone hacking into the open. Watson was concerned by alleged press misconduct, as were his colleagues Chris Bryant, the MP for Rhondda, Khalid Mahmood, MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, and Sion Simon, then MP for Birmingham Erdington. Watson joined the Culture, Media and Sport Committee in 2009, under the chairmanship of Conservative MP John Whittingdale, specifically to pose questions to leading figures in News International about the ethics at both "The Sun" and the "News of the World," and allowing him to quiz Andy Coulson, who was director of communications for the Conservative Party, about