News of the World has recently set up a £20m compensation fund in an effort to apologize to eight victims of illegal phone hacking. However nine other alleged victims of the hacking have been denied liability and will not receive compensation.

One of the alleged victims, who had been denied liability, is former MP George Galloway, who claims that the News of the World’s lawyers were a mere days away from seeing evidence of his being hacked.

In response, the newspaper wrote a legal letter stating: “In the event that such evidence is produced, our client will admit liability. If, however, no such evidence is provided our client will continue to defend the claim.”

Other victims have pursued out-of-court settlements for breach of privacy with News International, the parent company of News of the World, although the amount of the settlement remains unknown.

Among these out-of-court complainants are John Hewison, lawyer for the PFA; Jo Armstrong, PFA legal adviser; and Max Clifford, publicist.

Some prosecuting lawyers estimate that the phone hacking, which was investigated for the first time in 2007, affected over 7,000 victims.

Clive Goodman, the News of the World royal editor and Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator were tried and imprisoned for the ordeal in 2007. Last week, two more NoW employees were arrested on suspicion of having unlawfully intercepted voicemail messages.

In the meantime, the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has called for a ”truth and reconciliation” commission to get to the bottom of the predicament. The News of the World has said it will comply.