Salmond bank account 'hacked'

Guardian News and Media, the publisher of the Observer, has released a statement following Alex Salmond's allegation his bank account was hacked by an Observer reporter.

The allegation was made during Scotland's First Minister's evidence at the Leveson Inquiry.

During his evidence at the Leveson Inquiry, Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond has said his bank account may have been accessed by a reporter.

The Observer newspaper looked into his account in the run-up to the 1999 Scottish election, he said.

"I have no evidence that my own phone has been hacked," he told Lord Justice Leveson.

But he added: "My bank account was accessed by the Observer newspaper some time ago, in 1999, and my reason for believing that is I was informed by a former Observer journalist."

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has played down his relationship with the press today saying he was "ignored or derided" before the Liberal Democrats entered Government in 2010.

The Deputy Prime Minister told the Leveson Inquiry that at a dinner party with Rupert Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks in 2009, he had been put at the "very end of the table where the children sit". He added that most of his meetings with editors and proprietors were "fairly humdrum".

He said when he became leader of the Lib Dems in 2008 many senior figures did not "know me from Adam".

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg told the Leveson Inquiry that newspapers can increase the number of votes a party gets at a general election and that is "at the heart of a democratic contest".

Nick Clegg said fact, opinion and comment within the press are constantly blurred and that you cannot legislate to distinguish between them.

The Deputy Prime Minister also told the Leveson Inquiry that politicians should not be intimidated by the press.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has begun giving evidence at the Leveson Inquiry. He is expected to be asked about Jeremy Hunt's role in News Corp's takeover bid for BSkyB.

Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond is set to give evidence to the Leveson Inquiry.

The Deputy Prime Minister is set to give evidence to the Leveson Inquiry.