:00:03. > :00:09.the Leveson Inquiry. James Murdoch and Rupert Murdoch both gave
:00:09. > :00:17.evidence this week. Our correspondent was there.
:00:17. > :00:27.This was completely unethical, wasn't it? There was a cover-up. I
:00:27. > :00:31.
:00:31. > :00:34.also have to say that I failed. Over the decades, he has had a
:00:34. > :00:39.place at the centre of British public life. The man who bought
:00:39. > :00:49.News of the World in the 60s, reworked the way papers to do
:00:49. > :00:52.business in the 80s. Then he changed the face of British
:00:52. > :00:57.television. Rupert Murdoch now facing a scandal that even the
:00:57. > :01:03.tabloids never expected. This week, James and Rupert Murdoch were
:01:03. > :01:08.finally here, answering for themselves under oath and at length,
:01:08. > :01:12.before the Leveson Inquiry and providing the sort of revelations
:01:12. > :01:19.that would not have been out of place on the front pages of one of
:01:19. > :01:26.their newspapers. Sky News admitted that one of its report is illegally
:01:26. > :01:31.hacked the e-mails of John Darwin, who faked his own death. Sky News
:01:31. > :01:36.says his actions were justified and in the public interest. What you
:01:36. > :01:42.were doing was not just invading someone's privacy, it was in breach
:01:42. > :01:52.of the criminal law. It was. Where does the Ofcom broadcasting code
:01:52. > :01:55.
:01:55. > :01:58.give any authority to a breach of the criminal law? It does not. I
:01:58. > :02:08.think it is highly unlikely in the future that Sky News will consider
:02:08. > :02:10.
:02:10. > :02:17.breaking the law. The criminal law? Highly unlikely. I would not want
:02:17. > :02:21.to... Journalism is at times be difficult business and sometimes we
:02:21. > :02:27.have got to shed light into wrong doing. There might be an occasion,
:02:27. > :02:33.but I think it would be very unlikely. If he this week was more
:02:33. > :02:37.about newspapers and politicians and the views of insiders about how
:02:37. > :02:42.their relationship really works. Everyone knows the Telegraph is a
:02:42. > :02:47.conservative paper. What we have not heard before of was how the
:02:47. > :02:53.chief executive of the group wrote to David Cameron before the
:02:53. > :02:58.election. As we sat down to dinner, we said that we desperately want
:02:58. > :03:08.you to be our next Prime Minister. We will do all that we can to bring
:03:08. > :03:11.
:03:11. > :03:17.that about. We are no Fairweather friend. There were allegations
:03:17. > :03:23.relating to Labour as well. Meetings with Tony Blair and Gordon
:03:23. > :03:27.Brown. But with David Cameron, they exchanged text messages,
:03:27. > :03:33.encouraging close contact between him and the Telegraph during the
:03:33. > :03:37.length of the campaign. I suggested to the Prime Minister that if he
:03:37. > :03:42.wanted to get the attention of the editor and wanted to get his
:03:43. > :03:50.message across in the most efficient manner, he should talk to
:03:50. > :03:54.him on the phone on a daily basis. James Murdoch arrived not to build
:03:54. > :03:58.political relationships but to deliver evidence that would leave a
:03:58. > :04:04.Cabinet minister fighting off course for his resignation before
:04:04. > :04:10.the day was out. But first, phone hacking. His position is unchanged
:04:10. > :04:15.since he's slowed to ministers, that he did not see a famous female
:04:15. > :04:24.that suggested the problem went beyond one rogue reporter. --
:04:24. > :04:30.famous e-mail message. Will position prior -- your position
:04:30. > :04:37.before the Select Committee was that you were not shown that
:04:37. > :04:41.message. That is correct. And that remains my permission -- position.
:04:41. > :04:51.Nord at the time did he read a chain of e-mails with detailed
:04:51. > :04:56.
:04:56. > :05:03.claims against News International. There are two possibilities. One is
:05:03. > :05:10.that you were told about the evidence that link to others at
:05:10. > :05:15.News of the World to Glenn Mulcaire and that this was in effect a cover
:05:15. > :05:21.up. Alternatively, you were not told would do not read your e-mails
:05:21. > :05:28.properly, and therefore this was a failure governance within the
:05:28. > :05:32.company. Do you except those are the only two possibilities?
:05:33. > :05:38.When the Sun decided to support David Cameron, James Murdoch passed
:05:38. > :05:43.on the news personally. It was made clear to David Cameron by myself
:05:43. > :05:50.that after discussions with the Edis at -- editor, News
:05:50. > :05:52.International and my father, the Sun would either endorse the
:05:52. > :05:58.Conservative Party will almost certainly move away from its
:05:58. > :06:04.traditional or more recent support of Labour. News Corporation wanted
:06:04. > :06:08.to purchase shares in BSkyB it did not already own. The problem was
:06:08. > :06:14.that the government could stand in the way up the deal. After these
:06:14. > :06:20.cable was reported as saying he had declared war on Rupert Murdoch, he
:06:20. > :06:26.had the power to rule on the bid taken from him. -- Vince Cable. Two
:06:26. > :06:33.days later, Rupert Murdoch had dinner with David Cameron and
:06:33. > :06:37.Rebekah Brooks. -- James Murdoch. It was only a tiny part of the
:06:37. > :06:44.conversation. Not really a discussion. The conservative
:06:44. > :06:50.Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt took charge of the BSkyB decision. The
:06:50. > :06:55.inquiry saw 163 pages of e-mails from Fred Michel, News
:06:55. > :07:01.Corporation's public affairs chief. The messages were between him and
:07:01. > :07:05.Adam Smith, the chief adviser to Jeremy Hunt. Friend Michelle had
:07:05. > :07:10.written that he had been in contact with Jeremy Hunt, even though he
:07:11. > :07:19.had only been in contact with Adam Smith. However, Adam Smith provided
:07:19. > :07:22.Frederic Michel with a great deal of information. Was News
:07:23. > :07:26.Corporation expecting support from a party they had supported during
:07:26. > :07:34.the election campaign? Absolutely and I would never leave anything
:07:34. > :07:38.like that to a commercial transaction -- absolutely not. I
:07:38. > :07:48.would never expect a minister to behave in an inappropriate way ever.
:07:48. > :07:50.
:07:50. > :07:55.I would never do business that way. Prior to taking over Vince Cable's
:07:55. > :08:05.role in relation to the BSkyB bid, Jeremy Hunt was said to have been
:08:05. > :08:07.
:08:07. > :08:13.very frustrated he could not meet with James Murdoch personally.
:08:13. > :08:18.These e-mails say that possibly contacting through mobile phone
:08:18. > :08:23.contact surreptitiously would be more appropriate. I did not take it
:08:23. > :08:28.to mean surreptitiously. The EU speak with Jeremy Hunt on his
:08:28. > :08:34.mobile phone? He called me once to apologise for not being able to
:08:34. > :08:39.make a meeting but that is the only thing I can recall. The inquiry
:08:39. > :08:44.heard that Jeremy Hunt decided he sympathised with News Corporation's
:08:44. > :08:53.case even though he was supposed to make the decision with the
:08:53. > :08:56.independence of a judge. The e-mail follows that he understands fully
:08:56. > :09:02.what is involved in the process but he once asked to take the heat with
:09:02. > :09:09.him over the next two weeks, the political heat. He says very
:09:09. > :09:12.specifically that he was keen to get the same outcome and wanted
:09:12. > :09:18.James Murdoch to understand he needed to build some political
:09:18. > :09:24.cover on the process. I took that to mean that basically he did not
:09:24. > :09:29.want to take any heat alone and I have never met a politician who did.
:09:29. > :09:32.Frederic Michel even claimed the law had been broken to help News
:09:32. > :09:37.Corporation, with the company receiving the contents of a
:09:37. > :09:43.parliamentary statement before Parliament was able to hear it.
:09:43. > :09:46.Confidential statement, managed to get information on the plans for
:09:47. > :09:56.tomorrow. And then be he now message continues - absolutely
:09:57. > :10:02.
:10:02. > :10:09.illegal. What do you make of that? It was absolutely illegal in one
:10:09. > :10:14.sense. Jeremy Hunt later told the House of Commons he had strictly
:10:14. > :10:23.followed due process when handling the bid. The special adviser
:10:23. > :10:30.resigned saying the content and extent of his contact with NewsCorp
:10:30. > :10:37.was not excessive. Rupert Murdoch arrived at the inquiry to describe
:10:37. > :10:47.his dealings with politicians over decades at the top. Decades that
:10:47. > :10:50.saw him by the Sunday Times and transform the way they work. He had
:10:50. > :10:57.lunch with Margaret Thatcher at Chequers when there was a risk the
:10:57. > :11:07.government might refer his takeover to the Monopolies Commission. He
:11:07. > :11:07.
:11:07. > :11:16.said he requested nothing of her. You wish to point out that nothing
:11:16. > :11:20.was offered by Margaret Thatcher. It was a refrain the inquiry was to
:11:20. > :11:29.hear it time and time again. He made a lot of Prime Ministers, but
:11:29. > :11:38.he did not make demands or do deals. -- he met. I never gave
:11:38. > :11:48.instructions to the editors... Sometimes, when I was available on
:11:48. > :11:49.
:11:49. > :11:56.the Saturday, I would say, what is the news today? He did at... I am a
:11:56. > :12:04.curious person who is interested in the issues of the day. I do not
:12:04. > :12:11.like to hold my tongue. Rupert Murdoch says he got a call from
:12:11. > :12:21.Prime Minister Gordon Brown. said, I must stress no voices were
:12:21. > :12:27.
:12:27. > :12:33.raised. He said, well, your company has declared war on my government.
:12:33. > :12:43.We have no alternative but to make war on your company. I said, I'm
:12:43. > :12:53.sorry about that Gordon. Thank you for calling. End of subject.
:12:53. > :12:55.
:12:55. > :13:05.could Gordon Brown have declared war and your company? -- on your
:13:05. > :13:11.company? I do not know. I do not think he was in a calm state of
:13:11. > :13:21.mind. Gordon Brown said that was totally wrong. Rupert Murdoch
:13:21. > :13:22.
:13:22. > :13:32.stirred by his story. He cannot recall on his yacht he met David
:13:32. > :13:35.
:13:35. > :13:44.Cameron in 2008. It is coming back to me vaguely. He was being flown
:13:44. > :13:52.on my son-in-law's plane from his holiday in Turkey. She says I met
:13:52. > :14:01.him on her boat. It does not matter. I do not really remember the
:14:01. > :14:08.meeting. I think that is part of the democratic process. All
:14:08. > :14:14.politicians of all sides like to have their opinions known by the
:14:14. > :14:22.editors of newspapers, publishers as well. Hoping they will be put
:14:22. > :14:27.across. Hoping they will succeed in interesting people. That is the
:14:27. > :14:33.game. Soon after the democratic process propelled David Cameron
:14:33. > :14:42.into Downing Street, Rupert Murdoch was invited for tea. He was asked
:14:42. > :14:50.to use the back entrance. There were reasons for that. I did not
:14:50. > :14:55.want to be photographed going in the front door. It was quite OK.
:14:55. > :15:05.was making political friends in Scotland with the First Minister.
:15:05. > :15:09.do not know Alex Salmond well. I had three meetings here. He is an
:15:10. > :15:19.amusing guy. I enjoy his company. I enjoy talking with him and
:15:19. > :15:28.listening to him. Why did you support his party? Can you recall?
:15:28. > :15:38.It is a little emotional. I am attracted by the idea, but I'm not
:15:38. > :15:38.
:15:39. > :15:42.convinced. I said we should stay neutral on the big issue. In Mao's
:15:43. > :15:47.released to the inquiry suggested Alex Salmond was willing to back
:15:47. > :15:53.the NewsCorp bid, it led to a row in the Scottish Parliament. Alex
:15:53. > :16:00.Salmond said there was a risk of BSkyB taking jobs from Scotland.
:16:00. > :16:05.There were plenty more rows to come on day 65 when Rupert Murdoch
:16:05. > :16:14.returned. He said trusted employees had let him down. Now he went
:16:14. > :16:21.further. There is no question in my mind that maybe even the editor,
:16:21. > :16:31.certainly beyond that, someone took charge of a cover-up which we were
:16:31. > :16:32.
:16:32. > :16:42.victim to. Where does it emanate? think from with the News of the
:16:42. > :16:50.
:16:50. > :17:00.World. -- within. There were one or two very strong characters there.
:17:00. > :17:03.
:17:03. > :17:13.They had been there many, many years. They were friends of the
:17:13. > :17:23.
:17:23. > :17:30.journalists. Drinking powers, clever lawyer's. -- drinking pals,
:17:30. > :17:38.clever lawyers. Tom Crone thought Rupert Murdoch was about him and
:17:38. > :17:43.the allegation that he had taken charge was labelled a shameful Life.
:17:43. > :17:50.Some might say this picture is consistent with one of a desire to
:17:50. > :18:00.cover up rather than the desire to expose. For people with minds like
:18:00. > :18:01.
:18:01. > :18:07.yours, I suspect so. I take that back. Then contrition. Apart from
:18:08. > :18:17.the commercial side of it, you would really want to know what the
:18:17. > :18:27.hell was going on because the news media was your, running through
:18:27. > :18:30.
:18:30. > :18:37.your veins... That is the question I would ask, this was not just a
:18:37. > :18:43.matter of commercial interest for you, this was at the very core of
:18:43. > :18:47.your being. That is why you are being asked, were you not really
:18:47. > :18:56.intensely concerned to know what was going on apart from everything
:18:56. > :19:04.else? I have to admit that some newspapers are closer to my heart
:19:04. > :19:09.than others. I also have to say that I failed. There were plenty of
:19:09. > :19:16.regrets. He wished he closed the News of the World years ago. He
:19:16. > :19:26.described how the 168 year-old newspaper was finally shut down.
:19:26. > :19:32.
:19:32. > :19:38.was a decision taken very quickly. Brooks was still there, myself.
:19:38. > :19:47.wished he had taken personal charge of the one News of the World
:19:47. > :19:53.reporter who was jailed for phone hacking. I should have seen Clive
:19:53. > :19:59.Goodman one on one. He had been an employee for a long time. I should
:19:59. > :20:06.have examined him myself. I would have made up my mind, maybe rightly
:20:06. > :20:10.or wrongly, was he telling the truth? It was all too late. The
:20:10. > :20:15.lawyers by now were in control. Rupert Murdoch described the