Leveson Inquiry: Latest updates as Jeremy Hunt gives evidence Published on Thursday 31 May 2012 14:48 CULTURE Secretary Jeremy Hunt appears before Lord Justice Leveson today in what is expected to be a key day of drama for the inquiry. Jeremy Hunt appears before Leveson Inquiry Culture Secretary under pressure over his contact with News Corporation Mr Hunt's special adviser resigned over the BSkyB bid controversy Politics editor Eddie Barnes with the latest... 2.30pm: Texts bewteen Michel (News Corp's public affairs director) to Hunt revealed in January 2011, after he is in the quasi-judicial process. After a meeting with James Murdoch (which ended "frostily," says Hunt), Michel texted him: "Great to see you today." Mr Hunt replied at a quarter to midnight: "Good to see you too. Hope you understand why we have to have this long process. Hope to meet when things are resolved. Mr Michel texted back: "You were very impressive. Yes, let's meet up when its all done. More texts are shown in which Mr Michel is seen ingratiating himself to Mr Hunt. "Flattery is a weapon that Mr M tries to deploy quite frequently," says Mr Hunt. Another text, later in the year, declares: "Hopefully when consultation over, we can have a coffee like the old days." However, Mr Hunt insists none of this was evidence he was leaning towards the News Corp side of things. He was just being "courteous" in replying to the persistent Mr Michel - who appears to have done little else during this period but try to ingratiate himself with Mr Hunt. 1pm: The sheer persistence of News Corp's efforts has come through in the last hour of the session. Mr Hunt notes that News Corp's public affairs man Fred Michel sent no fewer than 542 text messages, or around 5 a day, to Adam Smith, his adviser on the bid. Mr Hunt adds just now: "News Corp is a very determined company and they are always putting everyone under pressure to do things quickly." This came after he was shown an email from Michel to Smith warning him of the need to get the takeover bid decision done by June otherwise it would be "catastrophic for many important reasons." The Culture Secretary allows himself a few smiles as the session comes to an end, without any fatal or even any damaging blows. He insisted he was open minded and "had this lock on the process that in the end we were going to get advice from Ofcom and the OFT on the UILs [undertakings in lieu] before I made my decision. And it was going to have a big impact on that decision. 12.10pm: Mr Hunt is getting his say now. Here comes his key defence. He goes through a meeting with James Murdoch in January 2011 when he says he insisted on getting further advice from OfCom and from the Office of Fair Trading on whether the plurality concerns about the BSkyB bid were now in bounds (this after Murdoch had agreed to spin off Sky News). James Murdoch was not happy, and told Mr Hunt that referring it back to OfCom was "tantamount to wanting to kill the deal." Murdoch believed OfCom was hostile to the entire bid. So, Mr Hunt implies, if I was a cheerleader for News Corp, why did I enrage its chief executive like this? 11.35am: Another slightly absurd exchange as Mr Hunt is asked whether his former special adviser Adam Smith spoke for him, internally and externally. Unsurprisingly, Mr Hunt side-steps this repeatedly, in the knowledge of the incautious emails sent by Smith to News Corp in which he does exactly that - and for which he had to resign as a result. It was a given that he would know my views. That's not quite the same thing as speaking for me," says Mr Hunt. This will give him his "out," one suspects, when the questioning moves to Mr Smith's emails. Hunt will argue these were not his views being conveyed, but Mr Smith's over-enthusiastic interpretation of those views. 11.15am: Fascinating glimpse into the day when Vince Cable was removed from his quasi-judicial role overseeing the BSkyB bid. He had done so after being secretly recorded saying he had "declared war" on the Murdochs. There then began machinations in government to put Jeremy Hunt in charge. Downing Street sought legal advice on whether Mr Hunt could take it on, given his publicly expressed views showing "sympathy" to the bid. Not surprisingly, this was quickly OK'd, within the space of just a few hours, and based only on one Financial Times article Mr Hunt had written on the subject. George Osborne then texted Mr Hunt: "I hope you like our solution" - ie, putting Mr Hunt in charge. Mr Jay puts it straight to Mr Hunt. Bluntly, Dr Cable had just lost the role through the appearance of bias.....you shouldn't have acquired the role for the equal and opposite reason? "No," replies Mr Hunt. He claims he knew he had to "set aside" his views and look "objectively" at the case. 11am: Mr Hunt is making some very thin distinctions here. He insists he wasn't supportive of the bid, but "sympathetic." There then follows details of a text he sent to James Murdoch after the bid passed compettion laws at the EU. Great. Congrats on Brussels. Just OfCom to go. That sounds quite supportive, Mr Jay suggests. What is emerging is that Mr Hunt and Mr Murdoch spoke regularly. As defence, Mr Hunt is arguing it was his "duty" to keep in touch regularly with a big media player, in a bid on which thousands of jobs could depend. This is also known as the Salmond defence. 10.45am: The early part of the session is focussing on late 2010 when Vince Cable wa still handling the BSkyB bid by News Corp. Hunt, the Secretary of State for Culture, says he cancelled a meeting with News Corp because he didn't want to get entangled in a quasi-judicial decision being handled by another Minister. But, he argues, it was then OK to place a mobile call to James Murdoch to talk about the bid. "I just heard Mr Murdoch out and heard what he had to say about what was on his mind," he said. Mr Hunt is using very Leveson-ian circumlocutory language as he recalls how he felt about the way Dr Cable was handling the bid. I may have been frustrated, I was worried about a bid in my sector that could mean 1000s more jobs could be created and the main protagonist was concenred about the process they had to go through. I may well have been worried. He says he thought Dr Cable's decision to refer the takeover to OfCom was "inconsistent" with Tory philosophy to back the free market, and companies which take risks. "I was sympathetic to the bid" rather than supportive, Mr Hunt says. Apart from informing the Prime Minister of my views, I wasn't actually doing anything about it. 10.15am: Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt kicks off his evidence, amid speculation that emails released later today will show he had direct contact with News Corp after taking over control of their bid to take over BSkyB. Hilarious start as Robert Jay QC, lead counsel for the inquiry, asks him whether it was true he once hid behind a tree at the University College London to avoid being seen meeting James Murdoch at a dinner they were both invited to, where a group of journalists were also present. This anecdote comes from a wonderful blog by political journalist Iain Martin, which can be found here.... Mr Hunt insists it wasn't a tree he hid behind. On my way I spooted a large group of media journalists and I thought this wasn't a good time for an interview so I moved to a different part of the quandrangle. Jay asks whether or not a tree was present in the quadrangle - but an impatient Lord Leveson insists they move on.