The political scandal over Rupert Murdoch's battle to buy BSkyB moved closer to David Cameron last night after new evidence undermined the Prime Minister's claim that his Government was scrupulously even-handed in deciding on the £8 billion ($16.6 billion) deal.
A damning memo, released by the Leveson Inquiry, revealed that
Cameron already knew his Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt was in favour of the bid, before he handed him quasi-judicial power to rule on it.
In the private message to the Prime Minister, Hunt told Cameron of James Murdoch's fury at his treatment, and stressed the importance of the deal going through. Only a month later, and despite knowing Hunt's views, Cameron handed him responsibility for making the decision on the bid. At the time he was under pressure from the Liberal Democrats to hand the decision over to a more impartial figure.
Importantly, the memo was also never seen by the then Cabinet Secretary Gus O'Donnell, who later assured critics that Hunt's past statements did "not amount to a pre-judgment of the case in question". Cameron has previously said he had "nothing to do" with the specifics of the bid, and is now likely to be questioned on this at the inquiry.
At the Leveson Inquiry, which heard evidence from Hunt's special adviser Adam Smith and News Corp lobbyist Fred Michel, it emerged that:
