RUPERT Murdoch's News International faces paying out tens of millions of pounds in compensation after it admitted liability and offered an unreserved apology to several public figures targeted in the phone-hacking scandal.

Lord Prescott, the former Deputy Prime Minister, who claims he too was a victim, said the News of the World’s publishers had admitted to “mass criminality” and demanded the UK Government not approve its bid for BSkyB until all police investigations were concluded.

Former MP and Holyrood candidate, George Galloway, who says his phone was hacked into, declared: “Finally, the world knows what most people believed and which I knew from the evidence the Metropolitan Police showed me last week – that senior journalists on a Sunday tabloid were engaged in widespread hacking of mobile phones.”

The politician, who claims his phone was hacked into five times in just one day, said News International solicitors had as yet neither offered him an apology nor compensation.

He added: “My aim remains to find out just how far and how high this culture of illegality went. My case against the newspaper and its owners continues.”

Another alleged victim, Labour MP Chris Bryant, described the media group’s move as “nothing but a damage limitation exercise”, which proved everything it had said up to now had been “a pack of lies”.

The eight politicians and celebrities who are believed to be the subjects of the media group’s admission and apology include actress Sienna Miller, Tessa Jowell, the former Labour Culture Secretary, and the former Scotland footballer turned football pundit Andy Gray.

However, there are 24 cases from alleged victims, who also include actress Leslie Ash and comedy actor Steve Coogan.

It has been suggested former Prime Minister Gordon Brown may have had his phone hacked.

Four alleged victims are said to have settled out of court. Max Clifford, the publicist, received a reputed £1 million. Last night, he said: “From a PR point of view, they’re making the best of a bad situation.”

Solicitor Mark Lewis, acting for a number of alleged victims, said the compensation could run into millions of pounds. It is thought News International has set its fund at up to £20m.

Next week, the victims’ lawyers will meet their News International counterparts to discuss offers of compensation. But there is no guarantee they will accept.

Yesterday’s dramatic development came after the media group, which owns the News of the World, The Sun and The Times, conducted an “extensive internal investigation” with disclosures through civil legal cases.

After maintaining the phone hacking had been down to just one “rogue reporter” at the Sunday tabloid, royal editor Clive Goodman, News International was forced to admit its “previous inquiries failed to uncover important evidence and we acknowledge our actions then were not sufficiently robust”.

It admitted its “past behaviour” on “voicemail interception” at the News of The World – relating only to the period between 2004 and 2006 – was a “matter of genuine regret”.

On Tuesday, Scotland Yard detectives arrested Neville Thurlbeck, 50, the paper’s chief reporter, and Ian Edmondson, 42, its former head of news.

In 2007, Goodman and private investigator Glenn Muclaire were jailed for their part.

In January, Andy Coulson, the News of the World’s former editor, resigned as Prime Minister David Cameron’s director of communications, admitting the continuing row about the affair was making his job impossible.

Days later the Metropolitan Police launched a fresh investigation after receiving “significant new information” from News International.

Last night, Aamer Anwar, Tommy Sheridan’s solicitor, called on the police to launch an investigation into allegations of perjury from witnesses at his client’s trial. He branded “a lie” the assertion that the hacking was down to a rogue reporter.

“It is essential,” said Mr Anwar, “the Scottish Police and the Metropolitan Police examine the evidence of Andy Coulson as well as others to consider whether perjury was committed by them and whether they were aware of Mr Sheridan’s phone being hacked along with others.”

In January, Sheridan was jailed for three years for perjury after he was convicted of lying during his defamation case against the News of the World in 2006. The paper claimed the politician was an adulterer, who visited a swingers’ club.