Rupert Watch, Leveson Testimony Spells Doom for Cameron and Hunt

[autorank]

Rupert Watch, Leveson Testimony Spells Doom for Cameron and Hunt

By Michael Collins



Queens Counsel Robert Jay unearthed a devastating piece of evidence that will surely create calls for the resignation of both culture secretary Jeremy Hunt and Prime Minister David Cameron.

In afternoon testimony at the Leveson Inquiry today (5/24), Jay confronted News Corp lobbyist Frederic Michel with an email rendition of a Hunt to Cameron memo of November 19, 2010 (see testimony/full memo at end of article). Hunt is clearly cheer leading for the News Corp acquisition of immensely profitable pay TV network BSkyB. News Corp owned 39% of the network and wanted to purchase the remaining 61%. This acquisition was absolutely critical to News Corp profitability and as a sign that Rupert and James Murdoch actually knew what they were doing.

One month after he got the biased memo, Cameron appointed Hunt as the government minister in charge of approving the bid. Hunt portrayed his role as "quasi-judicial" and claimed he was an objective judge. The bid was opposed by an alliance of news organizations.

Now we know, without any doubt and from Hunt's own words that he was biased in favor of approving the News Corp bid before he even got the authority to judge.

We also know that PM Cameron knew Hunt's bias and appointed him anyway.

Link: http://www.opednews.com/articles/Rupert-Watch-Leveson-Test-by-Michael-Collins-120524-808.html

[craigmatic]

1. This injures the tories but I doubt that Cameron resigns. It looks like this and the UK job numbers

will bring labour back to power.

[autorank]

4. It's an interesting situation

A fairly detailed poll in the last 10 days showed that nobody much liked Cameron, Clegg or MIliband. Cameron is taking further hits bu there's no surge for another, at this point.

Cameron will hold on for dear life, no doubt, but, simply on he face of it, Hunt said he was gung ho for the acquisition and then Cameron appointed him to take charge of it a month later.

This inquiry is very well run and Leveson and Jay seem very professional.

[malaise]

2. Yes indeed - Hunt is down for the count

but I don't see how Cameron escapes

[autorank]

5. I don't either

If the email is for real, and we can assume the Leveson staff vetted it, then Cameron was grossly negligent in appoint hunt to the "quasi-judicial role."

That phrase makes me chuckle whenever I write it. Hunt was so pious when he'd say the process was quasi judicial. Where did that come from?
Probably he same people who came up with "homeland".

[hifiguy]

3. Hurricane Murdoch gets ever closer to Cameron.

He is headed for some deep, deep shit.

[autorank]

6. I think that he knows he's gone

...and he's just taking out as many people as he can. He trashed a bunch of loyal people, did a sting on the Conservative Party fundraiser, said he'd move
to Scotland, etc. I'd bet a Franklin that he's furious at Cameron and Hunt for the failure of the Sky bid. He should be disappointed since the company
is vital to News Corp. Sucks being Rupert.

[Uncle Joe]

7. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, autorank.

[autorank]

8. Had to do this one

and it was an effort since my life is devoted to working to pay my direct purchase health insurance.

But others are seeing the same thing.

Cameron knew Hunt would back BSkyB bid
The Independent, May 25, 2012

The political scandal over Rupert Murdoch's battle to buy BSkyB moved closer to David Cameron last night after new evidence undermined the Prime Minister's claim that his Government was scrupulously even-handed in deciding on the £8bn deal.

A damning memo, released by the Leveson Inquiry, revealed for the first time that Mr Cameron already knew his Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt was in favour of the bid, before he handed him quasi-judicial power to rule on it.

Justice Leveson: "Say good night Prime Minister."
PM Cameron: "Good night Prime Minister."

[malaise]

9. Nice editorial

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/may/24/jeremy-hunt-minister-murdoch-editorial
<snip>
If this module of the Leveson inquiry has a smoking gun, it is the memo Jeremy Hunt wrote to the prime minister on 19 November 2010. Mr Hunt, as culture secretary, was not in charge of the News Corp BSkyB bid at the time – Vince Cable was – and Hunt's officials were emphatic that he should keep his nose out of it. He was forced to cancel a planned meeting with News Corp – instead arranging a mobile phone conversation with James Murdoch.

There are three obvious questions that flow from this new evidence. The first – for Mr Hunt – is why he so recklessly defied the advice of his officials to intervene with Downing Street over a matter in which he not only had no role, but had been positively warned to stay clear of. The paperwork turned over to Leveson clearly shows Hunt's bias towards the bid before he assumed responsibility for it. He showed virtually no interest in the counter-arguments once he was running the process and will have to explain the voluminous insider back-channel contacts between his office and News Corp.

News Corp must answer questions about the "son of Wapping" plan that has now been revealed by the memo. Throughout the bid its executives denied any plans to bundle together its newspapers, digital and TV offerings, companies, platforms and content. Sometimes it suited News Corp to claim that Sky was an entirely separate company. At others the argument was reversed (and duly adopted by Mr Hunt): Sky was controlled by News Corp, anyway, so there was no real proposed change of control. But it now seems apparent that there was, indeed, a well-advanced plan to bring the Murdoch platforms and content into one unity. Leveson should ask to see those plans.

Finally, there are ever-more delicate questions for Mr Cameron. Why, knowing that Mr Hunt was privately lobbying on behalf of the bid, did he think it was appropriate to appoint him to run it, given that Mr Cable – with different sympathies – had just been forced to step down over the appearance of partiality? And what is he going to do about Mr Hunt, who is due to give evidence to the inquiry next week? Mr Hunt has been shown to have defied his officials' advice and to have run the bid (under the ministerial code he has to take responsibility for Mr Smith) against a background of clandestine contacts having made his own position clear in advance. Had it not been for the Leveson inquiry we would have been kept in the dark about what went on. We are, daily, getting a fuller picture, and it is not an edifying one.

[autorank]

10. Good one, Thanks!

I hadn't seen that. The Independent put this out about 8 hours after my short piece went up. It's a killer:

Cameron knew Hunt would back BSkyB bid May 25, 2012

and now this editorial

It's time to step back Mr. Prime MInister Andrew Grice, The Independent

Even allowing for a PR man's hype to his bosses in Mr Michel's emails, the constant contact between him and Mr Hunt's office over the bid is astonishing. The Culture Secretary did not give News Corp all it wanted immediately but he appears to have bent over backwards to help it reach its goal. We await Mr Hunt's appearance before Lord Justice Leveson, but his direction of travel suggests he would have approved the takeover – until it was stopped in its tracks by the chilling revelation that Milly Dowler's phone was hacked by the News of the World.

Next week at Leveson

BLiar Monday
Cable Wednesday
Hunt Thursday