Corruption or Incompetence?

I told you yesterday that I was depressed. There is more depressing news today. Yesterday, James Murdoch was giving evidence — under oath — to the Leveson Enquiry and it was revealed that, when News International were negotiating to buy control of BSkyB — with considerable misgivings in Parliament, the media and the public — the Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, was colluding with News International and providing James Murdoch with considerable data about what the government — ie Jeremy Hunt — was likely to do. Hunt should have been totally impartial. He was given the job of over-seeing the negotiations because Vince Cable had indicated that he was far from enthusiastic about News International — ie Murdoch — owning BSkyB. The appointment of Hunt was viewed with some dismay by many because it was widely thought — correctly as it now turns out — that he was in the pocket of this Machiavellian family. This morning Hunt's special adviser has resigned and surely. Hunt cannot be far behind — although this man is so far away from reality that he will only leave if Cameron sacks him. Last night Call me Dave said that Hunt had his full support — such an announcement is usually made up to 48 hours before a minister is sacked.

Jeremy Hunt is the sort of man who should not be in modern politics — even if, two years ago, there were some loonies in the press who thought he could be the next Tory leader — God help us! He always comes across as slightly slimy and totally unable to understand what is right and what is wrong. Throughout the time when discussions were taking place Hunt did not appear to be anything like impartial. On this issue, the BBC's business correspondent, Robert Peston, says that in all his years in journalism he has never seen anything so damming as the 160+ pages of letters, texts and e-mails between the Department of Culture and News International. It is difficult to see how the Culture Secretary can talk his way out of this one. The reality is that it was only the phone hacking scandal and the demise of the News of the World that changed the public atmosphere to an extent that News International were never going to be allowed full ownership of BSkyB whatever happened — and they withdrew their bid. Without that BSkyB would now be under the total control the Murdoch family — and every day that passes tells us just how bad that would have been.

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