James Murdoch tells of meetings with Cameron

The media mogul, being quizzed on his relationship with Ministers and MPs, briefly talked to Mr Cameron at a dinner about the removal of Business Secretary Vince Cable’s powers to oversee News Corporation’s bid to take over broadcaster BSkyB.

Mr Murdoch, who stood down as News International executive chairman in February, was giving evidence to the inquiry on Press standards which has entered its third stage to examine the relationship between the Press and politicians.

He told the hearing he had had drinks with the Tory leader in September 2009 to discuss The Sun’s plans to endorse the Conservative Party at the following year’s General Election. He also met Chancellor George Osborne and Foreign Secretary William Hague during the Tories’ time in opposition.

Between June 2006 and January 2010, Mr Murdoch met Mr Cameron eight times for dinner, twice for breakfast, once for lunch and once for drinks.

Former News International chief executive Mrs Brooks, who is believed to be among 11 suspects in the phone-hacking scandal facing criminal charges, and her husband, Charlie, hosted a dinner attended by the media mogul and Mr Cameron on December 23 2010. This was two days after Mr Cable was stripped of his responsibilities for regulating the media after he was caught on tape by undercover reporters claiming to have “declared war” on Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp empire.

James Murdoch told the Leveson Inquiry he and Mr Cameron mentioned what had happened.

“He reiterated what he had said publicly, which is that the behaviour had been unacceptable, and I imagine I expressed the hope that things would be dealt with in a way that was appropriate and judicial,” he said.

“It was a tiny conversation ahead of a dinner where all these people were there, so it wasn’t really a discussion.”

Mr Murdoch confirmed he was “friendly” with Mr Osborne and had once visited the Chancellor’s grace and favour house, Dorneywood in Buckinghamshire, with his family.

He said he had one discussion with Mr Osborne about News Corp’s bid to take over BSkyB, which was eventually dropped last July after a public outcry over the revelation that the News of the World hacked murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler’s phone.

Mr Murdoch said his conversation about the proposed buy-out of the satellite broadcaster “would have just been to be grumpy about it taking a long time and being referred to (regulator) Ofcom, which I was very clear in public about at the same time”.

Mr Cameron’s official spokesman declined to comment on Mr Murdoch’s account of his meetings with the Prime Minister, and his suggestion they discussed the BSkyB bid at the December 2010 dinner.

“Everybody expects the Prime Minister to be called (by Leveson), and we have made clear throughout that he will attend and answer the questions that are put,” said the spokesman. “But we have always been clear that we should let the inquiry continue and not comment on it as it happens.”

Downing Street has previously insisted the dinner was “a private engagement” and Mr Cameron took no part in the decision-making process on the bid.

Meanwhile Mr Murdoch again insisted he was not originally told of evidence suggesting phone hacking was widespread at the News of the World.

He suggested News of the World executives may have been reluctant to tell him about the extent of hacking for fear he would have ordered them to “cut out the cancer”.

In evidence under oath to the Leveson Inquiry, he disputed the evidence of former News of the World editor Colin Myler and legal manager Tom Crone that they informed him of allegations that hacking was “rife” at the paper.