David Cameron says James Murdoch "clearly" needs to answer questions from MPs after his evidence on phone hacking was challenged.
Labour's Tom Watson wants a police probe after the evidence was disputed by two ex-News of the World executives.The News International chairman had said he was not "aware" of an email suggesting hacking went wider than a "rogue" reporter at the firm's paper.
But ex-NoW editor Colin Myler and legal manager Tom Crone said they told him.
In a statement later, Mr Murdoch, said: "I stand by my testimony to the select committee."
Mr Murdoch appeared before MPs on Tuesday alongside his father Rupert Murdoch, chairman of NI's parent company News Corporation.
Following Thursday's statement by Mr Myler and Mr Crone, committee chairman John Whittingdale said Mr Murdoch had agreed to write to the committee on various points he had been unable to address at the hearing.
He said: "I'm sure if the statement suggests there's conflict between what Colin Myler is saying and what he said, we will ask him to answer that as well."
Speaking during a visit in Warwickshire, the prime minister said: "Clearly James Murdoch has got questions to answer in Parliament and I'm sure he will do that.
"And clearly News International has got some big issues to deal with and a mess to clear up, that has to be done by the management of that company."
Labour leader Ed Miliband said: "People will want to look at the comments that were made and want to resolve the different versions of events that we've seen.
In April 2008, James Murdoch authorised the payment of an out-of-court settlement of more than £600,000 to Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, over the hacking of his phone.
Mr Watson said he was going to formally bring the matter of James Murdoch's disputed evidence to the attention of Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers, who is leading Operation Weeting, the investigation into phone hacking.
The Metropolitan Police later confirmed Mr Watson's request for an investigation into the disputed evidence "was being considered".
The West Bromwich MP told the BBC: "This is the most significant moment of two years of investigation into phone hacking.
"If [Colin Myler and Tom Crone's] statement is accurate it shows James Murdoch had knowledge that others were involved in hacking as early as 2008, it shows he failed to act to discipline staff or initiate an internal investigation, which undermines Rupert Murdoch's evidence to our committee that the company had a zero tolerance to wrongdoing."
The MP added: "More importantly, it shows he not only failed to report a crime to the police but because there was a confidentiality clause involved in the settlement it means that he bought the silence of Gordon Taylor and that could mean he is facing investigation for perverting the course of justice."
He said: "There is only going to be one person who is accurate. Either James Murdoch, who to be fair to him is standing by his version of events, or Colin Myler and Tom Crone."
'Proper governance' In 2007, the News of the World's royal editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire were jailed for hacking. But the email in question was marked "for Neville" and Mr Watson's line of questioning was believed to be an attempt to see whether it implied that the News of the World's chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck also knew about such practices.
At the committee hearing on Tuesday, Mr Watson asked Mr Murdoch: "When you signed off the Taylor payment, did you see or were you made aware of the full Neville email, the transcript of the hacked voicemail messages?"
Mr Murdoch replied: "No, I was not aware of that at the time."
He went on: "There was every reason to settle the case, given the likelihood of losing the case and given the damages - we had received counsel - that would be levied."
In their statement issued on Thursday Mr Myler and Crone said: "Just by way of clarification relating to Tuesday's CMS select committee hearing, we would like to point out that James Murdoch's recollection of what he was told when agreeing to settle the Gordon Taylor litigation was mistaken.
"In fact, we did inform him of the 'for Neville' email which had been produced to us by Gordon Taylor's lawyers."
In another development, Labour MP Chris Bryant, who is suing over allegations his phone was hacked, has called for James and Rupert Murdoch to be suspended by News Corp's board.
In a letter to the non-executive directors of the firm, he said Rupert Murdoch's refusal to accept responsibility for what happened at the News of the World "would suggest that there is no proper corporate governance within the company".
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has confirmed he did raise questions about Mr Cameron's decision to bring ex-NoW editor Andy Coulson into No 10 as his director of communications.
He told the BBC: "But as Cameron has said himself, it was his decision and he said, 'I have received the assurances I sought' and on that basis I want to give Andy Coulson a second chance and that's his decision."
The BBC has also learned the FBI plans to contact actor Jude Law following claims his mobile phone was hacked during a visit to the US. News International denies the claims.
0 comments:
Post a Comment