Double salary

Former News of the World editor Andy Coulson was allegedly still being funded by the tabloid when he worked for Britain's Conservative Party in opposition. Coulson is at the centre of a phone-hacking scandal at the now-defunct mass circulation paper owned by media tycoon Rupert Murdoch.

According to British media sources, Coulson continued to receive several hundred thousand pounds as a severance package from News International, the UK newspaper branch of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp media empire.

He allegedly received severance pay until the end of 2007 as well as healthcare and a company car for a full three years.

From press to politics

Andy Coulson worked at the News of the World from 2003 to 2007 when he was forced to resign over a phone-hacking scandal at the paper. He was then hired as a communications director by Conservative party chief David Cameron.

Then-opposition leader and now Prime Minister David Cameron has repeatedly been criticized over his close links to Rupert Murdoch and the hiring of the former Murdoch employee.

Coulson was kept on after Cameron was elected prime minister in 2010. He only quit after police investigated the hacking allegations further and in July 2011 was even arrested over the issue.

David Cameron has said with hindsight, he would not have hired the 43-year old but insisted he could not be blamed for his past decision.

Did Cameron know?

The opposition Labour Party has called for transparency on the matter. "David Cameron needs to says whether he knew about the payments to Andy Coulson," Ian Lewis, the party's culture affairs spokesman said.

"The details of Mr Coulson's termination agreements with News International must be published and we need to know whether these payments, in the form of honoring a two-year contract of employment after he had been forced to resign in disgrace were declared to the parliamentary authorities."

"It must be explained why Mr Coulson was getting these payments when he resigned from the News of the World," Lewis added.

During a parliamentary committee hearing in 2009, Coulson had been asked whether he had received any income other than that he received for working for the Conservative Party.

"So your sole income was News International and then your sole income was the Conservative Party?" parliamentarian Tom Watson asked. Coulson replied "Yes."

Should this answer turn out to be false, Coulson will have a lot of explaining to do.

Author: Andreas Illmer (AFP, Reuters)
Editor: Rob Turner