LONDON, (Reuters) – A phone-hacking scandal that has rocked Rupert Murdoch’s media empire piled more pressure on British Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday 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 Conservative Prime Minister Cameron’s 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.
“If he refuses to resign, the prime minister must show some leadership and fire him,” said Miliband, who boosted his credibility last year by galvanising opposition to Murdoch.
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 kneejerk 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.
