Steve Coogan: I have not hijacked Leveson inquiry

COMEDIAN Steve Coogan has rebutted the claims of the father of a 7/7 bombing victim who said the Leveson inquiry into phone-hacking had been hijacked by celebrities. Coogan said Graham Foulkes's allegation that the judge-led inquiry has been taken over by people who actively court press publicity is not true.

Foulkes, whose son David died on a Circle line train, is thought to have had his phone hacked by private investigator Glen Mulcaire. As The Week online reported earlier, he believes the Leveson inquiry has been side-tracked and says he would not give evidence if asked.

Foulkes said celebrities had "jumped on the bandwagon" and the inquiry should be about how the media treats ordinary people. He also said he was worried that the outcome could be "knee-jerk" restriction on "solid, important journalism".

But The Guardian reported yesterday that, speaking on the Today programme, Coogan said: "We're here because we're the mouthpiece." The Alan Partridge actor said celebrities who have given evidence, including JK Rowling and Hugh Grant, are speaking for ordinary people who have suffered press intrusion.

He said: "The fact is that the Leveson inquiry has acted in the same way as genuine public interest journalism. It has shone a light on something which has hitherto gone unreported."

Writing in The Observer today, Henry Porter supports Coogan and says that Graham Foulkes is wrong: celebrities have not hijacked the inquiry, even if "watching the television news, you might get that impression".

"Sitting in the Royal Courts of Justice," writes Porter, "it was clear that the celebrities were uncomfortable and nervous. None of them pretends they suffered anything like the ordeal of those who have lost children; indeed, they often went out of their way to say so."

While the interviewees have obviously been scheduled with "an eye to creating an impact", celebrities have "equal rights under the law" and the inquiry is "important work" which "should not for one moment be mistaken for a celebrity-fest". ·