Hague's 'sympathy' for former No 10 spin doctor Coulson

Foreign Secretary William Hague said he felt "sympathy" for disgraced former Number 10 spin doctor Andy Coulson, who is facing up to two years in prison.

Mr Hague added that it was not true he had introduced the former tabloid editor to David Cameron.

The Foreign Secretary told BBC's Andrew Marr show: "I've always got sympathy for the predicament of anybody I know who has fallen into very difficult situations or brought it on themselves."

Coulson, 46, was found guilty last Tuesday of being involved in the conspiracy to snoop on the voicemails of a host of celebrities, royals, politicians and ordinary members of the public.

The phone hacking verdicts dominated the exchange between David Cameron and Ed Miliband at Prime Minister's Questions.

The Labour leader pushed his opposite number repeatedly on the decision to hire former News of the World editor Andy Coulson as his Communications Director.

Watch their exchanges in full below:

Read: Cameron's problem was not asking enough questions

Labour leader Ed Miliband told Prime Minister's Questions that Andy Coulson's appointment has "brought disgrace" on Number 10.

"Today we know that, for four years, the Prime Minister's hand-picked and closest adviser was a criminal and brought disgrace to Downing Street," he said.

"We now also know that the Prime Minister also ignored multiple warnings about him."

The Prime Minister has reiterated his apology over appointing Andy Coulson as his director of communications at Number 10, telling MPs: "I am sorry, this was the wrong decision".

David Cameron told MPs: "Yesterday once again showed that no one is above the law in our country."

The Prime Minister faced his first Prime Minister's Questions since the first verdicts in the phone hacking trial.

Nick Clegg said he was "sure" the Prime Minister's decision to apologise over Andy Coulson's appointment at Number 10 was "the right thing to do".

The Deputy Prime Minister said David Cameron "has explained the circumstances in which he took the decision to employ Andy Coulson and has explained why he has now apologised."

"Andy Coulson has been shown to be guilty of a serious crime, I think it shouldn't overshadow the really good, hard work done by many, many, very professional, law abiding journalists up and down the country," Mr Clegg said.

"I hope we can now start to turn a page so the public have more confidence in the way things happen, so when something untoward occurs people are held to account."

The public "will not be safe" until the full recommendations of Lord Justice Leveson's report are implemented, a member of Hacked Off has told Good Morning Britain.

Dr Evan Harris criticised the verdicts in Rebekah Brooks' trial for phone hacking and said tougher press regulation was still needed.

"If this was any other industry, the press would be falling over themselves to demand tough regulation," the former Lib Dem MP said.

"So far the newspapers are rejecting that independent check of a new regulator, to check that it is independent, fair and effective.

"I don't think the public is safe from those newspapers until Lord Justice Leveson's report is implemented in full."

Milly Dowler's sister has slammed the "incestuous" relationship between Britain's top politicians and the media as she spoke out in the wake of the first verdicts in the phone hacking trial.

Gemma Dowler, whose younger sister's phone was hacked after her disappearance in 2002, said she wanted to ensure "something good" came out of the scandal and called on David Cameron to make good on promises he made to her family over press regulation.

"Ordinary people have suffered terribly from journalists who recklessly intruded into private grief and stole private information," she said in a video.

Miss Dowler also branded the new press watchdog Ipso "meaningless," claiming, "This is just the newspapers looking after themselves."

"Something needs to be done to make sure what happened to my family doesn't happen again," she added.

David Cameron is set to face more questions about his links to Andy Coulson today as a jury resumes deliberations on whether the former Number 10 spin doctor is guilty of further charges.

Coulson was convicted yesterday of plotting to hack phones while he was editor of the News of the World, prompting an apology from the Prime Minister for hiring him.

After Ed Miliband questioned the "serious error of judgement", Mr Cameron appears likely to be asked about the ex-News of the World editor at Prime Minister's Questions this lunchtime.

Married father-of-three Coulson was recruited by Chancellor George Osborne to head up the Tory media operation within months of resigning as News of the World editor in January 2007.

Read: Cameron offers 'full and frank' apology for hiring Coulson