Richard Thomas is the former Information Commissioner which oversaw Data Protection and looked at breaches. On the disagreement in evidence between two former employees, Alec Owens and Francis Aldhouse, Thomas suggests there was ill feeling between them. He denies thinking that the Press was “too big to take on” but suggests that the real target was the people supplying or handling information. He says that the decision not to prosecute journalists might be put down to incompetence rather than a policy decision. He was told prosecutions would be difficult and expensive.

He is also critical of the Press Complaints Commission for not being more strident in its criticism of practices brought to its attention.