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ICO won't investigate Tory minister

No-one will investigate his investigators

Tory justice minister Jonathan Djanogly will not be investigated for setting a team of private investigators on his own constituency staff.

Djanogly spent £5,000 getting private detectives to pretend to be journalists in order to find out what local party officials thought of him.

His staff criticised him as a poor politician and described him as "lazy" and "dishonest".

Labour MP John Mann complained to the Information Commissioner's Office, but it has decided there is no need for further investigation.

An ICO spokesman said: "We have today written to John Mann MP to confirm that his complaint will not be taken forward. The matters raised by Mr Mann do not appear to represent recorded personal information as covered by the Data Protection Act. A potential breach of section 55 – the Act's 'blagging' offence – does not therefore arise."

Meanwhile the hacking story continues to rumble on. Former assistant commissioner at the Metropolitan Police John Yates has issued libel proceedings against the Evening Standard. Piers Morgan continues to deny accusations based on his own old interviews.

Lord Justice Leveson, in charge of the hacking inquiry, confirmed a wide-ranging investigation into the relationship between the press and public and issues of press regulation. He will have the power to force witnesses to attend hearings.

He said he would be investigating why the 2005 Motorman investigation by the ICO was never followed up. ®

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