Have I Found a little Bit of a "Smoking Gun"? Jeremy Hunt - Fred Michel - James Murdoch

Just weeks before a decision was due to me made about the BSkyB bid the Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt  had said he intended to order a full-scale competition probe into the BSkyB bid. Then out of the blue Hunt suddenly performed a huge U-turn and accepted a plan by Rupert Murdoch to spin off Sky News as an independent company, and that on this basis Hunt would grant the takeover-bid. 

The Culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt was within a few hours of signing off the BSKyB bid and giving consent for the takeover to Rupert Murdoch.

If events  hadn't then took a different course, forcing the government onto the back foot forcing Hunt to refer the bid to the Competition Commission on July 11 2011, then Murdoch would now be the owner of BSkyB and control the majority of the press and broadcast media in this country. How could Hunt and Cameron even have thought that this would be acceptable?


BSkyB decided to drop the their bid for the remaining 61% of shares for the company. Ofcom are now looking at News Corp to see if they are a "fit and proper" company to hold a broadcasting licence in this country, this will concern BSKyB's 39% stake in the company. The regulator has not yet ruled.


So Jeremy Hunt DID speak to Fred Michel and on the day that Hunt made a statement to the House. (Before he made the statement)


Does Jeremy Hunt remember having a conversation with Fred Michel on 11th July 2011, on the very same day that the Culture Secretary was to give a statement in the House of Commons? Does Jeremy Hunt and David Cameron deem this acceptable behaviour to be having such a conversation on the day Hunt is to speak in the house on this matter?

 And could Jeremy Hunt please explain what he was doing talking to Fred Michel and informing him that he was going to "expose the politicisation by Labour of a regulatory/legal process"? 


When Jeremy Hunt got to his feet in the House to make his statement:

1621: At the start of his statement, Mr Hunt apologised for not having given Labour leader Ed Miliband advance sight of what he was going to say. For his part, Mr Miliband looked deeply unimpressed.

Yet Mr Hunt had already told Fred Michel earlier that day that he was going to expose what he referred to as "Labour's politicisation of a regulatory/legal process" and also warned him to expect that some Labour MPs would use the opportunity to make further revelations regarding News International and Fred Michel was then able to warn James Murdoch about it. So Hunt informed Michel and James Murdoch about something he had not even had the courtesy to inform the leader of the opposition about!

TO: Murdoch~ James ( Newscorp ~_ Anders0n, Matthew

!Palker, Jeffrey

(NewsCorp),                  ]; Antonio.Bavasso

Andrea Appelia( Newscorp )    I11’11!

j--

From: ’ Michel, Frederic

Sent: Mon 11 07 2011 ¢ 2:25:21 PM.

,Subject: HUnt statement at 4.15 - infos

Just spoke to JH, He won’t add anything news in his statement from this morning’s letters.

He’will expose the politicisation by Labour of a regulatory/legal process.

We can also expect some Labour MPs to use the opportunity, to make further revelations

regarding N I. 

                                 

Fred

Source Leveson Inquiry