It's always interesting when someone you have met is in the news, particularly if it is in relation to a major scandal. We have discussed the links between UEA's media management team and the phone hackers, but another odd connection between Climategate and illegal accessing of voicemails has recently emerged.
In the early days of the Climategate story, I was visited by David Leigh, the investigations editor of the Guardian. I discussed the resulting article here. At the time I thought it odd that such a senior journalist would be visiting me, particularly since the Guardian's coverage of Climategate had been the exclusive preserve of the usual suspects from its environment team. However, Leigh had told me that he had a holiday cottage in Scotland and had been assigned to visit me because he was going to be in the area anyway.
Leigh's name has come to prominence in recent days, with the UK's premier political blogger, Guido Fawkes, accusing the Guardian man of being involved in phone hacking. The evidence seems pretty incontrovertible, and Leigh appears to be highly unamused to have it broadcast to all and sundry. All good clean family fun.
In answer to the obvious questions, I doubt my own phone was hacked, simply because I didn't actually have a mobile at the time - I got my first one last summer. Mrs Hill does wonder, however, if somebody from the Guardian could show me how to access voicemails on it.