By Indigo Jones

Copyright walesonline

Everyone knows who Keir Starmer is. That is unless you’re not from Britain, or maybe you’ve been living under a rock. For those who don’t know, Sir Keir is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom , and the leader of the labour party . Well, before joining the confusing world of politics, he had a very different job. ITV’s new TV crime drama, The Hack , follows the phone hacking scandal that rocked the nation. News of the World, were accused of retrieving information illegally on various people in power, celebrities and those who were impacted by terror events like 9/11 and 7/7. During the first episode of the new series, you may have recognised a familiar name… Sir Keir Starmer. Here is how he is connected to infamous phone hacking scandal. For the latest TV and showbiz gossip sign up to our newsletter . Before joining the Labour Party, Mr Starmer worked as Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) from 2008 to 2013. The DPP is the head of the Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales and is the government’s chief prosecutor of criminal cases. During his time in the role he dealt with a number of major cases including the Stephen Lawrence murder case, where he brought his murderers to justice. The phone hacking scandals would have been a massive case for the Crown Prosecution Service, however it largely predated Keir Starmer’s time as head of the CPS. Starmer did however give evidence to a Home Affairs Select Committee on the affair and was DPP when the 2011 hacking trial trial took place He later defended the trial of former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks, her husband Charlie Brooks, other former editor Andy Coulson, former personal assistant Cheryl Carter and former managing editor Stuart Kuttner as necessary to get to the bottom of the allegations for their involvement with the publication. Keir told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “What has been exposed is hacking at a high level, widespread hacking, and the question was who knew about it, and some of those questions have been answered by this trial. “Has anything really changed? The answer to that is yes. Before this trial … there was a feeling that journalists were above the law. I don’t think there is that feeling any more. “So far as Rebekah Brooks is concerned, the judge determined on a number of occasions that there was a case to answer, so it was a perfectly good case to bring. She answered it and I fully respect the jury’s verdict. She put her case and she answered it and we must respect that fully. But the deeper question is, is anybody above the law? This has answered that.” Following his appointment as Prime Minister, in 2024 he dismayed press regulation campaigners by confirming he has no plans to revive the second part of the inquiry. He explained to the Guardian: “We set out in our manifesto our programme for action for this government. We’ve laid that out in the king’s speech. That clearly sets out our priorities and the second half of Leveson is not among them. “I’ve been clear that one of the purposes of a mission-driven government is to be clear about what we can achieve – the time frame, the purpose we need to put to it – but also that it dictates our priorities in government.”” Although, Hacked Off, campaigners for tougher press regulation, have accused him of lacking the courage to stand up to newspaper owners. They said: “Sir Keir Starmer promised a government of integrity. He cannot achieve that while failing to commit to proceeding with an unfinished inquiry into mass criminality across the most powerful industry in the country.”