text: Leveson queries Cameron's decision to hire Hunt - Telegraph
  Leveson queries Cameron's decision to hire Hunt
  Lord Justice Leveson questioned David Cameron's decision to appoint Jeremy Hunt to oversee Rupert Murdoch's bid to control BSkyB when the Prime Minister gave evidence to his inquiry.
  10:17PM BST 14 Jun 2012
  The judge, who is investigating links between politicians and the press, suggested that the Culture Secretary's known support for the Murdoch bid would "raise a question as to the desirability" of giving him the role.
  The inquiry also heard that Mr Cameron made the appointment following advice from a government lawyer who was on holiday and had not seen all Mr Hunt's comments on the bid.
  Mr Cameron appointed Mr Hunt to make the "quasi-judicial" decision on the BSkyB bid in December 2010, after stripping Vince Cable of the job because of remarks the Business Secretary made about "declaring war" on Mr Murdoch.
  In the months before his appointment, Mr Hunt had publicly backed Mr Murdoch's interests, which, Lord Justice Leveson said, "does raise a question as to the desirability of putting a minister responsible for this type of decision in the position of Mr Hunt, who had his own views".
  Mr Hunt was given the BSkyB role only a few hours after Mr Cable's comments came to light and Mr Cameron faced questions about whether he rushed that appointment.
  Robert Jay QC, counsel for the inquiry, suggested that concern about media coverage meant Mr Cameron was "forced to jump in the deep end". That was a "fair observation," Mr Cameron said. He had moved quickly because "our reputation for competence, for not dithering and for dealing fairly with business was at risk".
  The Prime Minister insisted that his decision had been approved by senior civil servants and government lawyers. "If anyone had told me that Jeremy Hunt couldn't do the job, I wouldn't have given him the job," he said.
  The inquiry published evidence from Paul Jenkins, the Treasury Solicitor and head of the government legal service, which shows that he approved Mr Hunt's appointment. He was at home at the time and gave his advice by telephone, without having read all of Mr Hunt's previous comments on BSkyB.
  Mr Jenkins told the inquiry that he gave his advice on the basis of Sir Gus O'Donnell, who was Cabinet secretary, giving him "the gist" of Mr Hunt's comments. "The comments as described to me did not seem to amount to a prejudging of the issues," he wrote.
  The lawyer was unaware that Mr Hunt sent a private note to the Prime Minister arguing in favour of the Murdochs' bid in November 2010. Mr Cameron said he "did not recall" that note when he appointed Mr Hunt the following month and Mr Jenkins said knowledge of it would not have changed his view.
  RELATIONSHIP WITH THE MURDOCHS
  Politicians have been subjected to "witchcraft trials" over their dealings with Rupert Murdoch, Mr Cameron said.
  He admitted having more than 1,400 meetings with newspaper owners, editors and journalists in seven years, but said politicians had been unfairly accused of trading policies for support from the media with a "nod and a wink".
  Mr Cameron said at least 10 of his meetings were with Mr Murdoch, but there was "no evidence" that the Conservative Party agreed to push through the BSkyB bid in return for good coverage. "We do slightly get into sort of witchcraft trials," he said. "How do you possibly prove that you're innocent?"
  Mr Cameron admitted that the relationship between press and politicians had "gone wrong". "It has been too close and we need to get it on a better footing," he said.
  But he defended his right to court media owners. He said it was only natural that he would want to "win over" newspapers before an election.
  His evidence revealed a further 15 meetings with James Murdoch and 19 with Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of News International newspapers. In one meeting, Mr Cameron flew to Santorini, a Greek island, in August 2008 to meet several members of the Murdoch family.
  James Murdoch also gave him advance warning in September 2009 that The Sun would switch support to the Tories during the Labour Party conference.
  The inquiry heard that some of the texts Mr Cameron received were from Aidan Barclay, the chairman of Telegraph Media Group, including one about capital regulations and taxation of banks.
  Mr Cameron said Mr Barclay was speaking not as a newspaper owner but as "chairman of a big business heavily invested into the UK" who had "legitimate" contributions on the economy.
  Mr Cameron said he was "haunted" by his appointment of Andy Coulson, a former News of the World editor, as his media adviser.
  "I recognise this is a controversial appointment, this has come back to haunt both him and me," said Mr Cameron, who had sought assurances that the phone hacking scandal was over before making the appointment. But Mr Cameron did not ask for independent verification about how much Mr Coulson knew about phone hacking. His adviser subsequently resigned when it emerged that it was widespread at the News of the World. Mr Coulson faces charges of perjury over his evidence about the scandal.
  Mr Cameron admitted that several people, warned him against giving Mr Coulson a government role, but said he needed someone who could "help you through an absolute storm" and believed Mr Coulson was the right candidate.
  The Prime Minister expressed concern that the inquiry might be seen as a good opportunity to "clobber the press". He said newspapers must be free to express opinions and launch forceful campaigns against the Government.
  However, Mr Cameron made it clear that all media groups would have abide by new rules with "real teeth" to stop wrongdoing such as phone hacking. Mr Cameron suggested that newspapers could be banned from attending the parliamentary lobby and getting Government information if they did not comply with new rules, although Lord Justice Leveson said he thought it would be "difficult to see" how the Government could "withdraw favours".
  Special advisers may need more training to make sure they do not embarrass their ministers or the Government, Mr Cameron suggested.
  He said there needed to be "procedural changes" after it emerged that Mr Hunt's special adviser exchanged hundreds of text messages with a News Corporation lobbyist. Adam Smith told the Leveson Inquiry that he was not given specific instructions on how to behave in such a situation.