Downing Street refuses to reveal Coulson information
By politics.co.uk staff
Downing Street has refused to reveal whether Andy Coulson saw sensitive information on counter-terrorism, amid continued speculation over his clearance level.
Critics raised eyebrows at the fact that the former director of communications was given a lower security clearance than his predecessors, successors or even deputies.
Many suspect that the easier evaluation process prevented troubling aspects of his tenure as News of the World editor being revealed.
A series of questions from the Guardian asked if White House officials knew Mr Coulson had not finished 'developed vetting' during a July 2010 visit to Washington, whether he saw documents abut the terrorism scare in East Midlands airport in October 2010 or if he attended any briefings on Afghanistan or other UK security matters in which intelligence would have been revealed.
Downing Street refused to release the information, although it did admit that Mr Coulson had once met Neil Wallis in Downing Street.
Mr Wallis, who has been arrested on suspicion of phone-hacking, is a former News of the World deputy editor who later worked in a communications role for Scotland Yard.
He offered Mr Coulson advice during the general election campaign, although David Cameron has said he was unaware of the arrangement.
