News Corporation News

Lord Justice Leveson has said that the former Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt behaved "commendably" over the BSkyB bid, and places blame on his special adviser Adam Smith.

In his report, he writes: "Mr Hunt immediately put in place robust systems to ensure the remaining stages of the bid would be handled with fairness, impartiality and transparency, all in line with his quasi-judicial obligations."

"In every respect bar one, the bid was commendably handled."

Mr Hunt was accused of getting too close to News Corporation after the company released a series of emails exchanges between its chief lobbyist Frédéric Michel and Jeremy Hunt's office.

Adam Smith later resigned over the issue.

• UK
• Jeremy Hunt
• News Corporation

News Corporation has reported a loss in its quarterly results. The firm's net loss was 1.6 billion dollars (£1 billion) for the three months to the end of June, compared with a net income of 683 million dollars (£436.2million) in the same period last year.

The company's full year results included a 224 million dollar (£143 million) charge related to "the costs of the ongoing investigations initiated upon the closure of The News of the World". This included a 57 million dollar (£36.4 million) charge in the last quarter.

• UK
• News Corporation
• Rupert Murdoch

The Church of England (CofE) has announced it is selling all of its £1.9 million-worth of shares in News Corporation citing concerns over the phone hacking investigation.

Andrew Brown, the secretary of the Church Commissioners which manages the CofE's investment portfolio, said: "Last year's phone hacking allegations raised some serious concerns amongst the Church's investing bodies".

A CofE statement said it was "not satisfied that News Corporation had shown, or is likely in the immediate future to show, a commitment to implement necessary corporate governance reform."

The CofE has three national investment bodies which together hold assets worth in excess of £8 billion. There are already rules that ban investment in military products and services, pornography, alcoholic drinks, gambling, tobacco, human embryonic cloning and high interest rate lending.

• Business
• Church of England
• News Corporation

Rupert Murdoch's company News Corporation has released a statement denying the allegation that Mr Murdoch lobbied Former Prime Minister Tony Blair over the Iraq War.

It is complete rubbish to suggest that Rupert Murdoch lobbied Mr Blair over the Iraq war on behalf of the US Republicans. Furthermore, there isn't even any evidence in Alastair Campbell's diaries to support such a ridiculous claim.

• UK
• News Corporation
• Alastair Campbell

Harriet Harman MP, Labour's Deputy Leader, has accused the Prime Minister of "tearing up" the Ministerial Code by not referring Jeremy Hunt to the independent investigator on the Minsterial Code. In a statement she said:

Jeremy Hunt has broken the Ministerial Code and misled Parliament. It is not acceptable that these rules have been broken and we will call a vote insisting that Jeremy Hunt's breaches of the Code are referred to the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Interests ... When David Cameron came into power, he upgraded the Code and he said he was going to have higher standards in public office. Today those words ring hollow - he has just torn up the Code.

• UK
• Labour
• Harriet Harman

The Conservative MP Michael Fallon has denied that the Government's decision to back Jeremy Hunt just 25 minutes after he finished giving evidence at the Leveson Inquiry was "a little hasty".

He told ITV Daybreak that there was no doubt that the Culture Secretary "sympathised" with the News Corp bid for BSkyB, but that the issue at stake was whether he "put his views aside".

He also said that the Government's u-turn on the charity tax yesterday showed it "can listen".

• UK
• Conservative
• Jeremy Hunt

The deputy leader of the Labour party Harriet Harman has said she will call a vote in the House of Commons on whether Jeremy Hunt's actions should be referred to the independent investigator on the ministerial code.

She told BBC Breakfast that Mr Hunt "broke the ministerial code" and "as far as David Cameron is concerned [that] is perfectly acceptable".

"It is not acceptable to us that these rules should have been broken and we are going to call a vote on it in the House of Commons."

• UK
• Labour
• Harriet Harman

Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman has accused the Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt of making "a political decision" about the BSkyB bid when he was supposed to be acting impartially.

In an interview in ITV Daybreak, she accused the Prime Minister of "tearing up the ministerial code" by not referring Mr Hunt to a government ombudsman. She also claimed the Chancellor George Osborne acted as a "political strategist" over the affair.

• UK
• Labour
• Harriet Harman

• Daily Telegraph: Following his testimony to the Leveson Inquiry yesterday, it is clear Mr Hunt was being disingenuous. He may not have broken the letter of the ministerial code by directly misleading Parliament, but he shattered its spirit.

• Guardian: Though he did not resign, Mr Hunt is clearly finished as culture secretary. How could he possibly deal with a wide range of news companies in future, let alone receive Lord Justice Leveson's findings, still less spearhead legislation?

• Financial Times: The prime minister’s forbearance has not helped Mr Hunt, who emerges a diminished figure, his authority undermined by his closeness to the Murdochs. Apart from acting as a human shield for Mr Cameron, it is hard to see what purpose he now serves.

• UK
• Jeremy Hunt
• Leveson Inquiry