I am not sure Nick Cohen, or indeed anyone else, should be taking News International statements as to how one of their journalists got arrested at face value. It wasn’t that long ago when they were briefing the wider media that the G-men were arresting people for “buying their sources lunch” or “fiddling their expenses”, and much of the media was buying the story. That was self-serving bullshit. Given that Rupert Murdoch quit over the weekend, you might think a bit of media preparation might be going on ahead of the Monday news-cycle.
Update: Well, that was quick. Sue Akers tells Leveson that some of the surveillance included mobile phones being physically stolen. Can anyone guess why they might be suspicious of an MP’s mobe turning up in the hands of a Sun journalist?