The arrest of four of The Sun’s most senior journalists on Saturday morning was – for me – the most shocking development in the hacking scandal since the closure of the News of the World in July.

It should be noted that these arrests are linked to the hacking scandal only in the sense that the evidence which prompted them came to light as a result of a trawl for data inside News International which was prompted by the phone-hacking legal actions.

All four were News International career-men who have been handed over to police by their own employer – in the guise of the News Corp Management and Standards Committee.