Jumat, 27 April 2012

Tories turn up the heat on Hunt as the clamour grows for a Whitehall inquiry

Tories turn up the heat on Hunt as the clamour grows for a Whitehall inquiry

  • Releasing his contacts with his adviser will prove he broke no rules in dealing with the Murdoch empire, he said today
  • But Conservative grandee Bernard Jenkin says a probe into the Culture Secretary's conduct should be launched now
  • Lib Dem deputy leader Simon Hughes says he 'cannot understand' the PM's decision not to hold an inquiry
  • Labour stalwart Lord Prescott says 'Hunt must answer in Parliament not to the Leveson Inquiry'

By James Chapman and Martin Robinson

PUBLISHED: 18:08 EST, 26 April 2012 | UPDATED: 04:01 EST, 27 April 2012


Under pressure: Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt leaves his home this morning, where he told reporters he would be releasing all emails and texts to his adviser

Under pressure: Jeremy Hunt leaves his home this morning, where he told reporters he would be releasing all emails and texts to his adviser

Beleaguered minister Jeremy Hunt is to hand over all private texts and emails sent to his shamed special adviser in a bid to save his job.

By giving them to the Leveson Inquiry the Culture Secretary said today he believed that his contacts with Adam Smith would show that he handled the BSkyB takeover bid by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp empire with 'total integrity'.

It came as pressure was mounting last night for a Whitehall inquiry into claims Jeremy Hunt broke ministerial rules in his dealings with the Murdoch empire.

'I will be handing over all my private texts and emails to my special adviser to the Leveson Inquiry and I am confident that they will vindicate the position that I handled the BSkyB merger process with total integrity,' he told reporters outside his London home this morning.

Yesterday Jonathan Stephens, the Culture Secretary’s most senior civil servant, refused ten times to confirm his version of events when he appeared before MPs.

And as Downing Street continued to stand by Mr Hunt, a Tory grandee broke ranks to insist the Prime Minister’s independent adviser on ministers’ interests, Sir Alex Allan, should look into the affair.

Bernard Jenkin, chairman of the Commons public administration committee, backed Labour’s demands for the case to be referred to Sir Alex.

He said: ‘There was clearly something of a breakdown of good process and good governance.

â €˜We have a new Cabinet Secretary and he should demonstrate his independence and advise the Prime Minister. If he thinks there has been a prima facie case of a breach of the Ministerial Code, it should go straight to the independent adviser.’

There were also questions over why the affair has been left solely in the hands of the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics.

Enlarge   Jeremy Hunt has made four key claims against the allegations

Labour’s culture spokesman Harriet Harman said: ‘Lord Leveson’s inquiry is of huge importance, but it is not in its terms of reference to look into breaches of the Ministerial Code.

‘That is the job of the independent adviser and the Prime Minister will not allow him to look into this.’

Critic: Lib Dem deputy leader Siomn Hughes says he cannot understand why David Cameron has not called an inquiry into Jeremy Hunt's conduct

Critic: Lib Dem deputy leader Simon Hughes says he cannot understand why David Cameron has not called an inquiry into Jeremy Hunt's conduct

Mr Hunt is fighting for his political life after evidence emerged of emails and texts between Adam Smith, his special adviser, and a Murdoch lobbyist during discussions over whether to allow News Corporation’s BSkyB takeover bid.

Last night Liberal Democrat deputy leader Simon Hughes joined calls for an inquiry into whether the Culture Secretary breached the ministerial code of conduct.

The senior figure said he could not understand why Prime Minister David Cameron had ruled out referring the controversy over the actions of Mr Hunt’s special adviser to a regulator.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has backed the No 10 stance but Mr Hughes questioned why there should not also be an probe by Sir Alex Allen.

'What I cannot understand is why the matter of the ministerial code of conduct, which is to do with do you take responsibility for your special adviser, is not something the Prime Minister should immediately refer to the perso n who has been given the job of doing that, Sir Alex Alan,' he told BBC1’s Question Time.

A spokesman for Mr Clegg said: 'Jeremy Hunt has made his statement to Parliament and will provide more information to the Leveson Inquiry. That process should be allowed to happen.'

Labour claim the Ministerial Code was breached three times as Mr Hunt was supposed to be acting in a ‘quasi-judicial’ role determining whether or not to allow the £8billion bid.

Messages: Text messages from Mr Hunt to News Corp lobbyist Frederic Michel have been revealed Under pressure: Prime Minister David Cameron has continued to stand by Hunt despite growing pressure for an inquiry into his dealings

Pressure: Text messages sent between News Corp lobbyist Frederic Michel, left, and Jeremy Hunt were revealed mounting pressure on PM David Cameron to launch and inquiry

Mr Smith resigned on Wednesday insisting his contacts with News Corp lobbyist Frederic Michel went far beyond what Mr Hunt had authorised.

The Culture Secretary is confident that emails and texts between himself and Mr Smith demonstrate he did nothing wrong, and is ready to hand them over to the Leveson Inquiry as he tries to clear his name.

'Incredible': Labour leader Ed Miliband said it was 'incredible' Mr Hunt was still Culture Secretary

'Incredible': Labour leader Ed Miliband said it was 'incredible' Mr Hunt was still Culture Secretary

But there was confusion yesterday over his assertion that the senior civil servant at the Culture Department authorised Mr Smith to act as a ‘point man’ with the Murdoch empire.

As he appeared before the public accounts committee, Mr Stephens repeatedly refused to confirm that version of events.

Later the department issued a statement saying he had not felt it appropriate to provide further information ahead of its evidence to the Leveson Inquiry.

A spokesman added: ‘The Permanent Secretary was aware that Adam Smith was among a small number of individuals in the department who were in contact with News Corp and was content with that arrangement.

‘The content and extent of his contact was done without authorisation, and were contrary to the clear requirements set out by Jeremy Hunt and the Permanent Secretary.’

Labour leader Ed Miliband said it was ‘incredible’ that Mr Hunt was still Culture Secretar y and accused Mr Cameron of using him as a ‘firewall’.

He said: ‘Why is Jeremy Hunt still in his job? Because David Cameron has questions to answer, and Jeremy Hunt is, if you like, acting as a firewall, and if he goes the questions will then move to David Cameron’s conversations with Rebekah Brooks, with James Murdoch and others.’

While former Labour deputy leader Lord Prescott this morning backed Mr Miliband and told the Today programme: 'Hunt must answer in Parliament not to the Leveson Inquiry.'

But former Tory leader Lord Howard responded in the radio debate that Mr Hunt will now be called early by Justice Leveson and should then be given the chance to explain himself.

Here's what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

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Diane Abbott says he should resign on BBC question time. What a Hypocrite if any one should resign Teflon Abbott should.

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Are you going to do the right thing Dave?

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extradite,expulse the murdochs,,,,and all moneys and companies on briyish land confiscatef,,,,to pay for there lies, perjury, and criminal hacking acts,,,hacking innocent people should never be tolerated..,

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First world war posh boys running the army. Four years of slaughter, 2012 posh boys running the country.

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We accuse dictators like Mugabe et al of being corrupt, which they undoubtedly are; after the 'Expenses Scandal ' and the current scandal engulfing the Government we are certainly no better. ALL the major political parties in the UK are corrupt and corruptible. All so sad when one realises the integrity, decency and honour of the serviceman in contrast to his/her political masters !, Many of our politicians should, quite simply, be in jail !

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None of these idiots ever went through a management course, obviously! sorry but when you are head of a department or section, or in this case ministry, it's your responsibility if things go wrong, and if it is caused by your actions (and let's face it, SPADs as they call them are not working independantly of scrutiny, they don't act on their own!). The one thing that all members of the cabinet seem incapable of doing is taking responsibility for their own or subordinates actions and resigning - why should they they can draw our the agony for weeks and weeks! And what on earth has Leveson to do with an independent parliamentary investigation of Hunt and his SPAD? And Cameron hasn't the wit to realise that the longer Hunt remains, the deeper the inspection of his own activities will be...

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This is not an issue for the Leveson's inquirie. We have a Parliament and a Ministerial code that are the right way to deal with Mr Hunt.

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Cameron, Osborne, Gove, Brooks, Coulson... Plenty more headlines to come from the story that keeps on giving.

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Why dont these political parties stop concentrating on trivialities and concentrate on getting the country back on its feet. They are so concerned on point scoring that they miss the point of a Government's duties. The lack of bottoms on seats in the chamber reflects the true concern our MPs have for the country - how many are concentrating on their 'second jobs' instead of being real MPs?

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If Cameron had let Cable carry on with overseeing the BSkyB deal which he was keen on rejecting Labour wouldn't have been calling for Jeremy Hunt to go now. As it is Hunt's aide has been dismissed, Murdoch hasn't ended up with BSkyB, and Cameron has ended up with egg on his face. Nice outcome.

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