Report this comment
  • "Hey Mav I watched it too (have you been at the gin)and everytime Cameron calls milli weak he himself comes over weak. It looks like hunt is the human shield for camerwrong and the longer hunt does this the more people dont trust camerwrong it makes him weak and cowardly. As a life long Tory I simply have no respect for camerwrong and as for ozzy well he who said pre election QE is a sign of a failed government. Ozzies printing press has been working overtime. No you can conclude that this massive sleezie storm has a long way to go and could end in a collapse of the current zombie government. Camerwrong is weak untrustworthy and is in it upto his neck. I take no joy from this but as a "decent" citizen I detest what Murdock has done to British politicians of ALL colours. Just remember that there was an astonishing amount of lies printed about Gordon Brown by the Murdoch press. Milli is not Tard with the same brush and just for that single fact I would vote for him now. If you think deep down about it you know we have to remove Murdoch form all UK press and media. This is I'm afraid Cameron's waterloo and his is not Wellington."
  • This field is mandatory
  • This field is mandatory

  • Please note we will not accept reports with HTML tags or URLs in them.


  • Enter the above word in the box below

Please be fair, courteous and respectful to the views of others so we can build a vibrant community in a safe online environment. You are personal liable for your comments and action will be taken against anyone who offends, ridicules or posts malicious and damaging views. If you wish to complain, please contact us.

PM rejects Hunt inquiry calls again

6:55pm Monday 30th April 2012 in National News © Press Association 2013

David Cameron said he had seen no evidence that Jeremy Hunt had breached the ministerial code David Cameron said he had seen no evidence that Jeremy Hunt had breached the ministerial code

David Cameron has again rejected Labour demands for an inquiry into his Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt's links with Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.

Mr Cameron had to cancel a local election campaign visit and a planned speech after Commons Speaker John Bercow granted Labour leader Ed Miliband an urgent question to the Prime Minister in the House of Commons.

Mr Miliband told MPs that Mr Cameron was "defending the indefensible", after the exposure by the Leveson Inquiry of emails which showed that a News Corp lobbyist was passed advance information about a sensitive parliamentary statement by Mr Hunt's special adviser Adam Smith.

Mr Smith quit, admitting he "went too far" in his contacts with Fred Michel, but Mr Cameron made clear that he remains determined to hang on to his Culture Secretary, who sat beside him on the Government front bench.

He said he believed Mr Hunt "acted fairly and impartially and in line with the advice of his permanent secretary", adding: "I have seen no evidence to suggest that, in handling this issue, the Secretary of State acted at any stage in a way that was contrary to the ministerial code."

He accused Labour of playing "one-sided party politics" with the issue, and repeated his denial that he had made a "grand bargain" with News Corp to allow it to take control of BSkyB in return for the support of its newspapers - something he said he would deny on oath if required to before Lord Justice Leveson.

But Mr Miliband claimed Mr Hunt had breached three clauses of the code and repeated Labour's demand for Mr Cameron to refer the issue to his independent adviser on ministerial conduct Sir Alex Allan. He said: "The Prime Minister is defending the indefensible and he knows it.

"The special adviser had to go to protect the Culture Secretary. The Culture Secretary has to stay to protect the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister has shown today he is incapable of doing his duty: too close to a powerful few, out of touch with everyone else."

Meanwhile, a new poll suggested nearly half of the population believes Mr Hunt should resign. Research found 16% of voters think the Secretary of State should remain in post while 49% want him to quit over his links with Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.

The ComRes poll for ITV News at Ten also found three out of five voters want an independent probe into whether Mr Hunt was involved in the passing of information to News Corp during its bid for BSkyB.

Local Businesses

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree