PM defends Jeremy Hunt and refuses to order probe

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Prime Minister, David Cameron yesterday has continued to support the Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt by declaring Hunt’s act as “wisely and fairly” in his review of the BSkyB takeover, and defended the decision not to launch an investigation into the culture secretary’s conduct.

Mr. Hunt has resumed his job after Downing Street told his evidence at the inquiry last week showed he “acted properly” in his handling of the News Corporation bid for BSkyB.

Mr. Cameron has stated Mr. Hunt “gave a good account of himself” to the Leveson Inquiry, despite the parliamentary motion calling for the embattled Culture Secretary to be investigated for breaking the Ministerial Code. A few senior Liberal Democrat MPs are expected to vote with Labour on Wednesday next week to recommend that Mr. Hunt faces censure of his handling of News Corp’s £8bn bid for BSkyB.

Mr. PM is due to provide evidence to the inquiry next week, and will be questioned on his handing Mr. Hunt the job of deciding on the take-over when it was clear from private emails and texts that he was an enthusiastic backer of the bid.

Mr. Cameron has told: “The advice I was given was that what mattered was not what Jeremy Hunt had said publicly or privately but how he was going to conduct himself during the bid. That’s how I think we should judge him: did he adjudicate this bid wisely and fairly? And he did. He took legal advice at every stage, and he followed that legal advice and he did many things that were not in the interests of the Murdochs or BSkyB and that side of things.”

Mr. PM said he had “looked carefully” at pro-Murdoch public statements made by Mr. Hunt and taken legal advice before transferring bid responsibility to him from Vince Cable, further adding that Hunt “ran the bid very well and, I think, reached the right conclusions”.

However, Labour has said that it intends to use the next scheduled day of debate in the Commons, June 13, to ask MPs to vote on whether the Culture Secretary should be investigated. The Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg is expected to give evidence to the Leveson Inquiry on that day.

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