Sue Akers
Police are struggling to deal with scale of the News Corp phone hacking scandal Reuters

With the news that Stuart Kuttner was arrested by police on Tuesday, he became the eleventh person to be arrested over allegations of phone hacking and police bribery.

Kuttner joins the growing list of ex News of the World executives or editors that have faced questions from police over their role in allegations of phone and computer hacking. However, Kuttner becomes the first person to be arrested since Rebekah Brooks on July 17.

Has the British public lost interest in the story or have we just got used to the vile allegations that have been released over the past six weeks?

The reaction to the allegations that Sarah Payne's phone could have been hacked last week is a perfect example of where the British public are on this story. For six weeks we have had to digest the grotesque allegations that Milly Dowler's phone was hacked, that 7/7 victims' families may have been hacked and even 9/11 victims were hacked by private investigators working for the News of the World. Was there a sense of outrage to the allegations that Mrs Payne's phone could have been hacked ib the same way to the news Milly Dowler's mobile phone was hacked. Considering the relationship between the News of the World and Rebekah Brooks to Sarah Payne, where was the public outcry?

What is clear is the police investigation is going to take months, if not years to fully conclude. On the 21 July, the BBC reported that the police team investigating phone hacking has been boosted from 45 to 60 officers due to a significant increase in workload. On the hacking probe known as Operation Weeting, Ms Akers said there had been a "surge of enquiries and requests for assistance from the public and solicitors. "I have said all along that I would keep the resources under review and this has led to the increase. Similarly, if the demand decreases, I will release officers back to other duties," she told the BBC.

The British public accept we must be patient, but do we trust the police considering the allegations that have surfaced over the past month? When the news broke that Milly Dowler's phone had been hacked, it can be argued that the trust was far greater in our police force to do bring those responsible to justice. However, since that day, the police have had to battle against bribery and corruption allegations and the met have lost their two most senior officers. Could it be that the public haven't lost interest in the story, but confidence in the police to bring those responsible to justice?

The scandal has slowed down in recent weeks from a month ago when almost every day a new allegation was revealed. It was thought that the phone hacking story would run for the whole summer but it is losing pace. The story needs the British public to drive it. If we look to the MP's expenses scandal, it was the British public that forced change in Parliament. There is a worry that with more revelations of the phone hacking still to come out, they could be lost because as a nation we have simply moved on.

If James Murdoch is called back to the culture media and sport select committee interest will no doubt increase. However, MP's have said that they have no plans to recall Mr Murdoch. In saying that, can the British public really count on the MP's sitting on the committee (with the exception of Tom Watson) to call James Murdoch or anyone else they decide to call on to account? The gaffe from Louise Mensch was another example of the incompetency we have come to expect from our MP's.