:00:08. > :00:12.It is time for a look at the week's events at the Leveson Inquiry.
:00:12. > :00:16.News International behaved like the ultimate floating voter but with
:00:16. > :00:21.menace. He explained that the way to get access to people's Masters
:00:21. > :00:31.was to go to the factory default setting. Everyone else thought
:00:31. > :00:37.
:00:37. > :00:44.something untoward had happened. This week's evidence has been
:00:44. > :00:47.dominated by the appearance of the two household names and three far
:00:47. > :00:54.less well men -- well known men who each held the potential to unseat a
:00:54. > :00:58.Cabinet minister. The exchanges were dominated by whether or not
:00:58. > :01:03.there was a deal between a New Labour and Rupert Murdoch's British
:01:03. > :01:07.newspapers. Bundy 74, a reminder there is nothing new about that
:01:07. > :01:12.question. This former minister asked Tony Blair except for the
:01:12. > :01:16.same thing when she took on the job of looking at how many news outlets
:01:16. > :01:22.any one organisation could Owen. asked him whether or not any deal
:01:22. > :01:29.had been done with Rupert Murdoch on the reform of the cross-media
:01:29. > :01:35.ownership rules. He gave me an absolute assurance that there had
:01:35. > :01:38.been no prior agreement. It was controversial stuff. Downing Street
:01:38. > :01:48.was going to great lengths to get changes to media ownership rules to
:01:48. > :01:51.
:01:51. > :01:56.the Cabinet. The barrister quoted from a note. Referring to
:01:56. > :02:01.collective Cabinet agreement. would be a proxy for collective
:02:01. > :02:06.Cabinet agreement. This suggestion is that the latter use and two
:02:06. > :02:13.colleagues should include a summary of most policy decisions without
:02:13. > :02:20.referring to the most sensitive issues. What were they? They
:02:20. > :02:26.related to cross-media ownership. There were no such efforts to
:02:26. > :02:32.reform the Press Complaints Commission. The last quarter
:02:32. > :02:42.Secretary hadn't seen it SOO jobs to keep -- as her job to keep tabs
:02:42. > :02:42.
:02:42. > :02:49.on it. Humid had lunch with them once or twice a year. -- someone
:02:49. > :02:56.had lunch. I had no official oversight role at the BBC. She did
:02:56. > :03:01.not complain when her phone was hacked, which led to wait �200,000
:03:01. > :03:07.supplement from News International. She denied a claim she had refused
:03:07. > :03:17.to help the original investigation but her privacy had been invaded
:03:17. > :03:18.
:03:18. > :03:28.and she split up from her husband. At that time, my family had been
:03:28. > :03:31.
:03:31. > :03:39.destroyed. I did my job every day but life was very difficult. So I
:03:39. > :03:45.was perfectly satisfied with an explanation that related to what I
:03:45. > :03:51.knew was an obsessive curiosity about my private life and family.
:03:51. > :03:58.They suffered greatly as a result of that. Next up, a central figure
:03:58. > :04:05.from the Blair years. Like another former Labour Minister before him,
:04:05. > :04:13.he said dart the use no deal Express to imply it between any
:04:13. > :04:17.proprietor and any leading politician that suggested that in
:04:18. > :04:22.return for that so port for the Labour Party they could expect some
:04:22. > :04:30.favourable treatment. That did not mean politicians did not handle the
:04:30. > :04:35.press carefully. In the case of the sun, they were supporting you and
:04:35. > :04:45.your government across the policy area, you would probably want to
:04:45. > :04:48.
:04:48. > :04:54.manage the relationship. As for the press in general... It was
:04:54. > :04:58.wrestling with a crocodile. Perhaps keep away from it. This was not all
:04:58. > :05:02.about The Sun or News International. He said the Mirror had commissioned
:05:02. > :05:07.a private detective to carry out inquiries relating to his bank
:05:07. > :05:15.account and family. There is an allegation about John Yates to lead
:05:15. > :05:25.the investigation into whether Tony Blair's government had traded cash
:05:25. > :05:26.
:05:26. > :05:31.for something. I'm sure Mr Blair will be circumspect in what he says.
:05:31. > :05:40.All of those close to the investigation were absolutely
:05:40. > :05:44.convinced that Mr Yeates was briefing journalists throughout the
:05:44. > :05:52.investigation. It was common knowledge in journalistic circles
:05:52. > :06:02.that this was happening. I remember a journalist remarking on this to
:06:02. > :06:06.
:06:06. > :06:09.me himself. John Yates sent a letter described as bullying. A
:06:09. > :06:19.previously private communication has revealed relating to this
:06:19. > :06:19.
:06:19. > :06:29.Labour MP it. And -- of Labour MP from Rebekah Brooks. She would come
:06:29. > :06:35.
:06:35. > :06:45.to me and complain that whoever it was was hounding them. Could they
:06:45. > :06:49.
:06:49. > :06:59.be pulled away? What of Peter Mandelson? Labour's press chief.
:06:59. > :07:05.
:07:05. > :07:15.started in the 1980s as a robust defender of my party. Then I became
:07:15. > :07:19.
:07:19. > :07:26.a lightning conductor for Mr Blair. Then I was picked over by a Mr
:07:26. > :07:31.Blair's neighbour he thought that weakening the would have been an
:07:31. > :07:37.advantage for him. First, it was back to the allegation that John
:07:37. > :07:43.Yates had leaked stories to reporters. The lawyer for the
:07:43. > :07:51.Metropolitan Police set about trying to demolish his case.
:07:51. > :08:00.had an do still have no evidence that Mr Yeates or the Met Police
:08:00. > :08:10.leaked information about that investigation. I have believe.
:08:10. > :08:20.have no evidence. No basis for that belief. I do have basis. There was
:08:20. > :08:24.
:08:25. > :08:28.an independent investigation into that question which concluded...
:08:28. > :08:38.Some of the most sensitive material was never late. Including the fact
:08:38. > :08:41.
:08:41. > :08:46.that a serving Prime Minister was in two years four times. I do not
:08:47. > :08:55.find your line of questioning very plausible. The Labour MP and deputy
:08:55. > :09:00.party chairman has been publicly pursuing Rupert Murdoch. If he was
:09:00. > :09:05.more vocal than the other MPs, there was a good reason. His
:09:05. > :09:10.colleagues in Parliament had shed their anxieties with him. About a
:09:10. > :09:18.dozen who give different levels of detail about their sense of fear
:09:18. > :09:24.and their own experiences. If his views were widely known, his
:09:24. > :09:29.criticisms were memorable. News International behaved like the
:09:29. > :09:33.ultimate floating voter but with menace. As a minister, when I
:09:33. > :09:38.discussed issues or policy, there would always be a conversation
:09:38. > :09:45.about how this would play out. Surrounded by lawyers and in front
:09:45. > :09:49.of a judge, the demand was for proof. I have no hard evidence
:09:49. > :09:54.there was a craven understanding between politicians and senior
:09:54. > :10:04.executives. But I do believe that this is the general view of the
:10:04. > :10:07.
:10:07. > :10:11.public. He could draw on the testimony from the previous day.
:10:11. > :10:16.mentioned Rebekah Brooks saying to him, can members of the TCM has
:10:16. > :10:22.committed be pulled off? That strikes me as a totally improper
:10:23. > :10:25.thing for a Chief Executive of the company to say to the Secretary of
:10:25. > :10:32.State to interfere with a parliamentary inquiry. That sense
:10:32. > :10:38.of having no boundaries. Even her famous boss had tried to stand in
:10:38. > :10:44.his way, Tom Watson claimed. Gordon Brown called you to tell you Rupert
:10:44. > :10:49.Murdoch had telephoned Tony Blair to get him to call you what? That
:10:49. > :10:59.right. I should say that he can't remember the call. Both have denied
:10:59. > :11:02.it. Can you assist us with your evidence about it? I can tell you
:11:02. > :11:07.the exact position I was stand it when I got the phone call because
:11:07. > :11:15.the idea that Rupert Murdoch would call Tony Blair and Gordon Brown to
:11:15. > :11:21.phone me is not the sort of thing a backbench MP would forget. Next
:11:21. > :11:23.stop was Alan Johnson. He had to decide on News International's
:11:23. > :11:28.behaviour in 2009 when the Guardian published an article which
:11:28. > :11:31.suggested phone hacking was much more widespread. He decided not to
:11:31. > :11:37.call in the inspectors of Constabulary to review the initial
:11:37. > :11:41.phone hacking investigation. the Home Secretary to decide to
:11:41. > :11:48.intervene in an operational matter like this on the basis of a
:11:48. > :11:53.newspaper article, when the Director of Public Prosecutions was
:11:53. > :12:03.looking into the evidence, I would have been -- it would have been
:12:03. > :12:07.
:12:07. > :12:11.He had his own stories of dealing with the media. On my special
:12:11. > :12:19.advisor at telephoned me and asked me about having an affair with a
:12:19. > :12:25.district a member. I rang the editor of News of the World and he
:12:25. > :12:35.said it was corroborated. It was in her blue Toyota car and you were
:12:35. > :12:35.
:12:35. > :12:42.listening to Mozart. I pointed out I had never been to Exeter. He said
:12:42. > :12:50.the story had been corroborated. The woman had three children and
:12:50. > :12:55.was putting her family on the line. And I told him to run the story. I
:12:55. > :13:05.said it would be a good pension fund when I took him to court. It
:13:05. > :13:06.
:13:06. > :13:11.was absolute rubbish and he did not publish it. On days 76 A E Sunday
:13:11. > :13:17.morning presenter who asked Gordon Brown whether he used pills to get
:13:17. > :13:26.through the day. Gordon Brown said no. Some thought he had gone too
:13:26. > :13:34.far. It is not a moment in my career which I look back on West
:13:34. > :13:39.much pride. I would not have asked the question today. I do believe
:13:39. > :13:44.that we got some good stories out of that interview. This was a
:13:44. > :13:49.journalist who got to a super- injunction to stop other
:13:49. > :13:55.journalists reporting about his private life. Very few journalists
:13:55. > :14:03.in any position would go themselves to the PCC if they were looking for
:14:03. > :14:12.swift redress, frankly. I have looked at the operation of the PCC
:14:12. > :14:22.over many years. It has had many fine share persons. He made the
:14:22. > :14:22.
:14:22. > :14:32.case between over regulating the the contact between politicians and
:14:32. > :14:39.reporters. Or without interplay I don't think the public would have
:14:39. > :14:44.known about the difficulties in the Blair, Brown relationship. Then a
:14:44. > :14:51.man he considers himself a journalist, rather than a presenter.
:14:51. > :14:58.He is not known for treating the governing classes gently. I do not
:14:58. > :15:04.think they are all liars. I think there are many noble people who are
:15:04. > :15:12.politicians. But back taking a general view that it is easier to
:15:12. > :15:19.maintain a distance. Jeremy Paxman arrived with Amy's story of his own
:15:19. > :15:25.about this man having lunch at the headquarters of the Daily Mirror.
:15:25. > :15:34.Another television personality was there. The talking point was an
:15:35. > :15:41.affair with an England manager. On Morgan said that he knew what had
:15:41. > :15:51.happened in conversations between Hanoi and Ericsson. Piers Morgan
:15:51. > :15:51.
:15:51. > :15:59.said he had not listened to Enrico Johnson's messages. He turned to me
:15:59. > :16:06.and asked if I had a mobile telephone. He asked if my security
:16:06. > :16:16.setting was on the messages part. I did not know what he was talking
:16:16. > :16:24.about. He then explained the way to get access to messengers - go to
:16:25. > :16:30.the factory default setting and press zero, zero, zero. If you did
:16:30. > :16:40.not to use your own code, you were a full. I did not like the
:16:40. > :16:41.
:16:41. > :16:48.atmosphere. It struck me as not nice to be teasing as someone about
:16:48. > :16:55.private messages. A Piers Morgan replied on Twitter, right, that is
:16:55. > :17:02.the last time I will invite Jeremy Paxman to lunch. On days 77,
:17:02. > :17:09.evidence that could shape the fate of a Cabinet minister. When News
:17:09. > :17:13.Corporation decided it wanted to buy the rest of the shares in BSkyB,
:17:13. > :17:19.the government had to decide whether that would happen. They had
:17:19. > :17:26.to appoint a minister who would act impartially. Vince Cable was
:17:26. > :17:32.stripped of that role after he was secretly recorded saying he had
:17:32. > :17:42.declared war on Rupert Murdoch. On the Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt
:17:42. > :17:42.
:17:42. > :17:52.then took over. There were many messages between a lobbyist and
:17:52. > :17:54.
:17:54. > :18:04.News Corporation. Alan Smith. the period 2nd June NT ten to July
:18:04. > :18:05.
:18:05. > :18:15.2011 we found 191 telephone calls, 151 in Laos, nearly 800 text
:18:15. > :18:16.
:18:16. > :18:26.messages. He believes that Alan Smith's words matched Jeremy Hunt's
:18:26. > :18:28.
:18:28. > :18:32.outlook. So, what to make of advance notice, an e-mail saying
:18:33. > :18:42.that information had been got from Mr Smith that was absolutely
:18:43. > :18:43.
:18:43. > :18:47.illegal. It was a bad joke. I was surprised to get a briefing on the
:18:47. > :18:54.contents of the statements that such an early stage. In hindsight
:18:54. > :19:02.it is always a good thing. Questions, or so, about an e-mail
:19:02. > :19:11.in which it was claimed that J E H had asked him to guide to his
:19:11. > :19:15.behaviour on phone hacking. Guide may be too strong a word. And
:19:15. > :19:25.offered to brief the department on the ongoing issues that News
:19:25. > :19:27.
:19:27. > :19:33.International. That was welcome at that time. That cost Jeremy Hunt's
:19:33. > :19:41.special advisor his job. A note was sent to David Cameron in 20th
:19:41. > :19:46.November 10. The UK has the chance to lead the way, but if we block it
:19:46. > :19:54.off our Media Secretary will suffer for years. I am sure sensible
:19:54. > :20:03.controls can be put in place. This represents a substantial change of
:20:03. > :20:13.control. The note came before David Cameron gave Jeremy Hunt
:20:13. > :20:13.
:20:13. > :20:19.responsibility for a quasar a judicial decision on the BSkyB deal.
:20:19. > :20:27.On I do not regret giving the job to Jeremy Hunt. It was the right
:20:28. > :20:34.thing to do in these circumstances. On the crucial point is: Did Jeremy
:20:34. > :20:41.Hunt carry out his role properly. Which you describe your position on
:20:41. > :20:51.the merits of the bin to as the same as Mr Hunt's position? Very
:20:51. > :20:58.
:20:58. > :21:02.broadly. I do not think I particularly minded either way
:21:02. > :21:11.Foster in a funny way I could not see what everyone was getting so
:21:11. > :21:16.worked up about. But broadly speaking, yes. On day 78 Mr Smith
:21:16. > :21:26.continued his evidence, repeatedly acknowledging he had been flippant
:21:26. > :21:30.
:21:30. > :21:34.in his language was a precisely why did he resign? The obvious
:21:34. > :21:44.question: No-one was criticising year but everyone thought you
:21:44. > :21:45.
:21:45. > :21:51.needed to go. What do you think of that? I thought by this stage than
:21:51. > :21:57.the deception had been created that something untoward had gone on.
:21:57. > :22:06.That was wired offered my resignation. Everyone here thinks
:22:07. > :22:13.he need to go. I suppose in my mind that was confirmation that everyone
:22:13. > :22:21.else thought something untoward had happened. Documents released were
:22:21. > :22:26.embarrassing for Jeremy Hunt. He had signed them, Daddy, a reference
:22:26. > :22:35.to the two men having recently had children. Where does this leave
:22:35. > :22:45.Jeremy Hunt? There were no concrete revelations this way but there has
:22:45. > :22:49.
:22:49. > :22:53.still been a trickle of embarrassing revelations. In the
:22:53. > :23:01.final session on Friday afternoon the most senior civil servant gave
:23:01. > :23:06.his evidence, insisting Jeremy Hunt's aim was to reach a fair and
:23:06. > :23:15.biased decision and he behaved too scrupulously. He also had sympathy
:23:15. > :23:25.for Adam Smith. On I think against his will and intentions he was
:23:25. > :23:27.
:23:27. > :23:37.drawn into a web of manipulation and exaggeration. He was
:23:37. > :23:38.
:23:38. > :23:46.inadvertently drawn beyond what he intended all wanted. That was