THE phone hacking fiasco is a well of hypocrisy. Of course, it is wrong to pry into private affairs but it is not wicked.

Phone hacking is, apparently, illegal, but as Surrey police made clear in their letter to MPs it is not a law that is generally enforced. They made no moves against The News of the World at the time of Milly Dowlers’ disappearance even though it was evident that the newspaper had committed a crime.

The real stink comes from the lies and self-righteousness of the grubby figures who claim, retrospectively, to be victims of the so-called criminals.

Consider, all those celebrities who, if it had it not been for phone hacking revealing their shameful activities, would not have been discovered.

And what of the police who claimed the newspaper had interfered with their work and sometimes corrupted them by offering bribes? Pathetic.

Or the lawyers who make their living by perpetuating and exaggerating the wrongs they pretend to fight and the statesmen who care that hacking somehow tarnishes our image.

Chris Pattison, Richmond.