U.K. minister denies aiding Murdochs
Influence on BSKYB deal alleged
A phone-hacking scandal that has rocked Rupert Murdoch’s media empire piled more pressure on British Prime Minister David Cameron on Tuesday with the revelation that one of his ministers gave News Corp. executives highly sensitive details to help a controversial merger.
As the Leveson Inquiry on press ethics began to delve into the relationships between politicians and the media, with James Murdoch as a witness, the court heard that Jeremy Hunt, the culture minister, had had numerous secret contacts with James and his top London lobbyist.
Within minutes of the Leveson Inquiry’s closing for the day, opposition politicians were lining up to call for the resignation of Hunt, previously seen as a rising star in the Conservative government.
“Now we know he was providing advice, guidance and privileged access to News Corporation, he was being a back channel for the Murdochs,” Ed Miliband, leader of the opposition Labour party, told Sky News.
The inquiry was reluctantly ordered by Cameron last July as a phone-hacking scandal at Murdoch’s News of the World tabloid spiralled out of control, forcing him to side against the media empire that had helped propel him into power a year earlier.
News Corp. eventually dropped its $12-billion bid for the highly profitable BSKYB as public opposition to Murdoch made it untenable.
Hunt denied being a “cheerleader” for the Murdochs, as prosecutor Robert Jay suggested to James Murdoch at the inquiry on Tuesday and said he would not quit.
“Now is not a time for knee jerk reactions. We’ve heard one side of the story today but some of the evidence reported meetings and conversations that simply didn’t happen,” Hunt said in a statement.
He had written to the Leveson inquiry, asking if his planned appearance could be brought forward.
“I am very confident that when I present my evidence the public will see that I conducted this process with scrupulous fairness,” he said.
Tuesday’s revelations are a blow for Cameron’s Conservative government, which has been dropping in opinion polls due to a series of blunders including a so-called “granny tax” on pensioners and a failed attempt to extradite a terror suspect.
Hunt took over responsibility for deciding whether to approve the BSKYB bid after the minister previ- ously in charge, Liberal Democrat Vince Cable, was secretly recorded saying he had “declared war” on Murdoch.
News Corp. had already been lobbying Hunt, a Conservative, as it tried to build political support for its long-held ambition to buy BSKYB, Britain’s dominant pay-tv operator, which Rupert Murdoch had helped build from the ground up.
Public opposition to the News Corp.-bskyb deal grew last year as the phonehacking scandal escalated with the news that the phone of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler’s family had been hacked, raising concerns about Murdoch’s media ownership.
At the inquiry Tuesday, e-mail correspondence between James Murdoch and lobbyist Frederic Michel was read out, showing the level of privileged access Murdoch’s company had to Hunt and others.
Prosecutor Robert Jay read out a series of e-mails, asking Murdoch to comment, including one that referred to a confidential statement Hunt was due to read in parliament the following day.
“Mr. Michel to you: ‘Confidential: JH Statement. Managed to get some info on the plans for tomorrow. (Absolutely illegal),’ ” Jay read. “What do you make of that?” he asked Murdoch to an audible gasp in the packed courtroom.
Murdoch replied: “I thought it was a joke.”
Murdoch at first looked nervous, repeatedly clenching and flexing his fists and fiddling with his tie as he waited for Judge Brian Leveson to appear.
He appeared to get more confident as the hearing went on and at times looked impatient with the line of questioning, even rolling his eyes on occasion.