Newspapers in the UK commissioned private detectives to hack email accounts as well as phones, it emerged yesterday. The Independent reported that police have uncovered evidence that Gordon Brown's emails were accessed illegally during his time as Chancellor of the Exchequer, as well as those of a former Labour adviser Derek Draper.

"Several Fleet Street titles" may have commissioned private detectives to access emails of as many victims as those involved in the phone-hacking scandal, the Independent said. Peter Hain, former Northern Ireland secretary, has confirmed that he has been in discussions with police concerning hacking of his emails.
Labour MP Tom Watson has called for London's Metropolitan Police to expand its investigation into possible computer hacking, known as Operation Tuleta. Currently eight police officers are working on the email-hacking investigation, while the Operation Weeting team investigating phone-hacking is 120-strong, according to the Independent.

Evidence of illegal activity at 'several' titles could be extremely problematic for the British press, the integrity of which has already been called into question by the phone-hacking scandal. The Leveson Inquiry, which is investigating the role of the press and the police in the phone-hacking scandal specifically, is set to reopen on Monday.

Source: Independent (1), (2), (3)