Jeremy Hunt should have resigned over BSkyB bid, says Lord Oakeshott Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt has been urged to step down by Lord Oakeshott, a senior Liberal Democrat. A senior Liberal Democrat has publicly called for the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, to resign over revelations about the close relationships between ministers and Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation media empire in the UK. The intervention by a close ally of the business secretary Vince Cable reveals tension at the heart of government as the Leveson inquiry into press standards begins a much anticipated week of evidence from, among others, the prime minister David Cameron and the chancellor George Osborne about their relationship with the Murdoch family and some of their senior executives. In advance of what is likely to be a week of embarrassing details about house parties, "high fives" and personal text messages, Lord Oakeshott, a former Lib Dem Treasury spokesman, has told a TV documentary that "clearly Mr Hunt should have resigned some time ago." He said "no self-respecting minister could possibly carry on" after the culture secretary endured a humiliating week of evidence last month about how his former adviser provided detailed evidence to News Corp about the handling of the BSkyB bid. The inquiry also highlighted text messages and emails showing Hunt's support for the bid, which he had responsibility for overseeing as it was vetted by the government and regulators. Oakeshott will say he got "an increasingly creepy feeling" about the lobbying on behalf of Murdoch for the deal. Oakeshott also told the Channel 4 Dispatches programme, which airs on Monday 11 June, that Cameron's continued backing for Hunt to keep his job raised "very serious questions" about his judgment, and suggested he believed there could have been an agreement between the Conservative leadership and the Murdoch press to support each others interests. "Faustian pacts with the devil - they're not always written down - but it was very clear that a stage came where Cameron and Osborne decided they needed to have Murdoch very firmly on side," added Oakeshott. Cameron has repeatedly and clearly denied any such deal took place, while his aides have pointed out that politicians need to court all media interests to get their message across. With this week bringing evidence from Cameron, Osborne, former prime minister Gordon Brown and the Lib Dem leader and deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, Dispatches also suggests Cameron will be pressed about how strongly he questioned his former media adviser, the ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson, over his involvement in or knowledge of phone hacking carried out by the paper. Coulson was employed by Cameron soon after he resigned as the News of the World editor following the first hacking revelations, but has always maintained that he did not know about the practice. In his evidence to Leveson, Coulson said he did not recall being asked about it more than once, while Cameron has told the House of Commons that they had "many conversations" on the subject. Osborne appears on Monday before the inquiry, where details of a series of private social gatherings, including a party in a Swiss chalet before the 2010 general election, are expected to be revealed, according to a report in Sunday's Observer. Sources close to the chancellor have said it was "complete rubbish" to suggest any "deal" to secure Tory support for the £8bn News Corp bid for BSkyB, launched in June 2010, had been struck in the chalet as Osborne had not learned that the bid was happening until well after the election. However, Osborne will also be questioned at the Leveson inquiry about his attitude to the BSkyB bid and about his role in handing responsibility for the proposed merger to Hunt in December 2010. It emerged last month at the inquiry that he had texted Hunt "I hope you like the solution" when the culture secretary was given the oversight of the deal following Cable's removal from the role. Osborne also played a crucial role in recruiting Coulson as Cameron's adviser. Dispatches will also reveal claims that in opposition, Cameron and Osborne took part in "focus groups" with News of the World staff, organised by Coulson, so they could hear the voice of "normal people." Murdoch, Cameron and the £8bn Deal: Channel 4, 11 June, 8pm