Tony Blair denies John Prescott claim that Ian Paisley's phone was tapped

Former prime minister Tony Blair has denied a claim he authorised the phone tapping of the late Ian Paisley while he was an MP.

The allegation was made by John Prescott, who was deputy prime minister at the time.

Lord Prescott said in a column that Mr Blair had told him in 2005 that the security services were listening in to Mr Paisley's calls.

Denying the claim, Mr Blair's office said: "This story is wrong. No authorisation for the phone tapping of a member of parliament was given during Mr Blair's time as prime minister.

"It may be a confused account of the discussion of the Wilson Doctrine in Cabinet - something which was public at the time - which dated back to the '60s."

The Wilson Doctrine is a long-standing convention which says MPs should not have their communications monitored.