Boris deputy to be asked about pressure on police

Boris Johnson's deputy, Kit Malthouse, will have to defend his advice to police to scale down the phone-hacking investigation at the Leveson Inquiry next week.

Two senior Metropolitan Police officers, Sir Paul Stephenson, the former Commissioner who resigned last July, and Cressida Dick, serving Assistant Chief Constable, have told the inquiry that Mr Malthouse repeatedly urged them to devote fewer resources to Operation Weeting last year.

Mr Malthouse's boss, Mr Johnson, the Mayor of London, enjoyed the support of newspapers owned by News International, the subject of the Met's investigation.

Mr Malthouse, pictured, who has insisted that he was appropriately questioning the allocation of resources, will give evidence on Thursday. Sir Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, will appear on Wednesday.