Hunt ‘should have known’ about adviser’s BSkyB role

CULTURE Secretary Jeremy Hunt has come under renewed pressure after the UK’s former top civil servant insisted he should have been clear what discussions his special adviser could have with News Corporation over its bid for BSkyB.

And Lord O’Donnell also told the Leveson Inquiry yesterday he believed David Cameron’s links to Rupert Murdoch’s media empire had been too close.

The Government has previously argued that critics should wait for a full explanation when Mr Hunt makes his own appearance as a witness to the inquiry into press standards.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Lord O’Donnell – who retired as Cabinet Secretary at the end of last year – was asked about email exchanges between Mr Hunt’s special adviser Adam Smith and News Corp lobbyist Fred Michel.

Mr Smith resigned last month after admitting the discussions, which included previews of statements the Secretary Of State was due to make to parliament, had gone too far.

“It’s clear in the special advisers’ code (of conduct) that in terms of authorisation Ministers should authorise their special advisers as to what they should do, for example with the media,” the peer said. “I would have expected the Minister to be clear as to what he thought the special adviser should have been doing.”

He also insisted “all parties” should have been kept informed about the progress of scrutinising the News Corp bid for BSkyB.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Talking about process is fine,” he said, “but you should make sure that the same information is passed on to all parties in a case... so fairness is absolutely crucial to what happened.”

Lord O’Donnell said he had tried to ensure Ministers worked through the civil service and maintained a distance from the press, but admitted he had not always been successful.

“I think the Prime Minister himself, the current Prime Minister, has said that he felt his relationships had got too close, and I agree with that.”

Lord O’Donnell was asked about his involvement with Andy Coulson after he became Mr Cameron’s Downing Street director of communications in May 2010.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He said Mr Coulson signed a form declaring his financial interests without including £40,000 in News Corporation stock.

Questions have been raised about why the spin doctor was only security cleared to SC level, rather than the tougher DV level.

However, Lord O’Donnell said he had been keen to keep the numbers of people given the highest vetting to a minimum, to help avoid leaks.

He also pointed out that DV was designed to establish “whether you are blackmailable... in terms of your position or your personal life”.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“It would not have gone into enormous detail about phone hacking, for example,” he added.

The inquiry also heard from Tony Blair’s former spin doctor Alastair Campbell, who admitted the former Labour government had realised there was a “real problem” in the relationship between the press and politicians but failed to address it.

“I think there was a political point of pragmatism that Tony Blair would have taken the view that it was not politically sensible,” he said.

“He was further of the view that whereas it was possible to fight and win elections and to govern with consensus with some of the media offside, to seek to do so with all of them offside and in kill mode is very difficult indeed.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mr Campbell said he did not believe Mr Cameron wanted to set up the Leveson inquiry.

“I don’t think that David Cameron particularly wants to have to deal with this,” he said. “I don’t think he wanted to set up the inquiry. He had to in the end.”