Hunt Asked for Advice on Hacking

This sheds a little more light on Adam Smith’s resignation. U.K. Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt allegedly asked Rebekah Brooks, the former head of News of the World, for “private” advice on the phone hacking investigation so he could “guide his and No. 10’s positioning” on the scandal. The latest insight comes from a new email released to the Leveson Inquiry by Brooks as part of her witness statement. The email, which was sent by News Corp.’s head of public affairs to Smith, suggests that Parliament’s reaction to the phone hacking scandal and News Corp.’s bid to take over BSkyB hinged on the culture department’s cozy relationship with Murdoch’s company. In the same email, News Corp.’s head of public affairs writes that “Hunt will be making references to phone hacking in his statement on [BSkyB] this week.”