Deputy mayor at Leveson Inquiry

An aide to Boris Johnson who was said to have questioned the amount of resources devoted to the force's new phone-hacking investigation is to give evidence to the Leveson Inquiry.

The London Mayor's deputy Kit Malthouse was accused of voicing concerns over the manpower being invested in the phone-hacking probe in January 2011, when he was chairman of Scotland Yard's former governing body, the Metropolitan Police Authority.

The inquiry heard earlier this month from Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick, who said she was forced to remind Mr Malthouse that it was for her to make the decision, not him, because British police are operationally independent.

She added he questioned her three times over the amount of effort being applied to the investigation.

Other witnesses expected to give evidence today include Staffordshire Police Chief Constable Mike Cunningham and Metropolitan Police Authority chief executive Catherine Crawford.

Prime Minister David Cameron set up the Leveson Inquiry last July in response to the disclosure that the News of the World hacked murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler's phone after she disappeared in 2002.

The first part of the inquiry, sitting at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, is looking at the culture, practices and ethics of the press in general and is due to produce a report by October.

The second part, examining the extent of unlawful activities by journalists, will not begin until detectives have completed their investigation into alleged phone hacking and corrupt payments to police, and any prosecutions have been concluded.