Former Liberal Democrat MP Sir Simon Hughes has said knowledge that his private information was unlawfully obtained “went to the top in The Sun” after he accepted “substantial” damages from the newspaper’s publisher.

Sir Simon (pictured) sued News Group Newspapers (NGN), the publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct News Of The World, for misuse of private information and breach of confidence in 2019.

The former MP, who represented Bermondsey and Old Southwark over a 32-year period until 2015, claimed “he had been the victim of unlawful information-gathering by various journalists and executives at The Sun”, the High Court heard on Thursday.