Leveson Inquiry: Adam Smith and Jonathan Stephens give evidence, live He cannot remember specifically mentioning Mr Michel to Mr Hunt but thinks it is likely he would have had conversations saying "I've heard from Fred..." 09.38 You would advise them of NewsCorps position on the issues which you would receive from Michel, Mr Jay says. Mr Smith would say "I've hear from News Corp..." or "Fred has told me...," he says In other words, the department was aware of his contact with Mr Michel. 09.31 We are resuming with Adam Smith. In terms of formal meetings within DCSM while the bid was in progress, the inquiry hears it was discussed generally and legal advice taken. 09.30 The inquiry is now beginning for today 09.12 Oh dear. The Press Association reports: A BBC local radio newsreader has suffered the same embarassing slip of the tongue as James Naughtie and Andrew Marr when it comes to pronouncing the name of the Culture Secretary James Hunt. On BBC Radio Gloucestershire's 5pm news bulletin last night, Spencer Evans prefaced Mr Hunt's name with a C instead of an H. The newsreader, who has a formal old-school style of presentation, quickly corrected himself and continued smoothly through the rest of his bulletin. He said "A former special adviser to the Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has denied Mr Cu*t, Mr Hunt, had a close relationship with News Corporation. Adam Smith, who is giving evidence to the Leveson Inquiry, resigned after it emerged he had repeated contact with News Corporation...... 9.08 Today's papers have focused heavily on the memo. The Telegraph splashed on "Hunt and the secret BSkyB memo to Cameron," saying the "Culture Secretary is accused of misleading Parliament." The Daily Mail 's front page reads "Hunt, BSkyB and a damning memo to PM: Email reveals Cameron KNEW Culture Secretary backed Murdoch bid a month before he gave him control." In a comment piece, they call is an "ugly stain on Tory integrity" and said: But doesn't it defy belief that, only a month after this memo was written in 2010, and only days before enjoying a Christmas dinner at the home of a senior Murdoch executive, David Cameron saw no conflict of interest in making the clearly biased Mr Hunt the supposedly quasi-judicial, independent arbiter of whether the deal should be approved? The Daily Mirror writes under the headline "Cameron DID know Hunt was pro-Sky" "Murdoch's man: Jeremy Hunt backed BSkyB bid in memo to Prime Minister ," declaring: "Cameron DID know Hunt was pro-Sky" The Guardian says: "Hunt lobbied prime minister in support of Murdoch's BSkyB bid" and calls the disclosure a "bombshell memo: how Hunt nailed his colours to Murdoch." The Express writes: "David Cameron was dragged into the media standards row last night by a damning memo from his Culture Secretary." The Independent calls it a "devastating memo," claiming "the political scandal over Rupert Murdoch's battle to buy BSkyB moved closer to David Cameron last night." 09.07 Harriet Harman has told BBC Breakfast the evidence of Mr Hunt's wrongdoing was "absolutely massive." Instead of judging the Murdochs' bid, he was backing it, she argued. There are two bits of evidence, actual straightforward evidence, that Jeremy Hunt was not impartial, he was meddling before he even took over the bid and was on the side of the Murdochs The first was that he had to be warned off by the civil servants not to have any more meetings with Rupert Murdoch but he kept up the contact through his special adviser, and secondly he wrote a memo to the Prime Minister. 09.05 Yesterday afternoon, we also heard the beginning of Adam Smith's evidence. The former special advisor to Mr Hunt said he had a very close working relationship with his boss, but that Mr Hunt was not particularly close to News Corporation. Critically, the inquiry heard details of a memo sent from Mr Hunt to David Cameron relating to the BSkyB deal, when it was still the responsibility of Vince Cable. In it, he said James Murdoch was "furious" about the Business Secretary's handling of the matter. The note expressed concerns that referring the bid to Ofcom could leave the Government "on the wrong side of media policy" and said it would be "totally wrong" for ministers to "cave in" to News Corp's opponents. 09.04 He also told the inquiry he had exchanged 799 text messages, 191 telephone calls and 158 emails with Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt's team during the bid. In one, Mr Hunt texted "Merci. Large drink tonight" after Mr Michel complimented him on his speech to the Commons. Another response read: ""Merci, hopefully when consultation over we can have a coffee like the old days!" In another, Mr Michel criticised the BBC director-general, Mark Thompson for a speech. Mr Hunt replied: "Because he trained his guns on you he failed to make his case to me." They also exchanged pleasantries about their familes. 9.02 Yesterday, we heard from Frederic Michel, lobbyist for News Corporation. He admitted he had been given "inside information" by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport as it scrutinised News Corp's bid to take over BSkyB. The Telegraph's chief reporter Gordon Rayner writes: 9.01 Today, we will hear from Jeremy Hunt's special advisor Adam Smith and Jonathan Stephens, Permanent Secretary for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. The Inquiry is still concentrating on the relationship between politicians and the press, and is likely to focus on the involvement of parties in the progress of News Corporation's BSkyB bid. 9.00 Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the Leveson Inquiry into the relationship with the press and the police.