Jeremy Hunt or Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth?

Two politicians have featured on this blog in recent weeks:

• Jeremy Hunt, the UK's Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport
• Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth, Sweden's Minister for Culture and Sports

I playful pondered which of the two was least awful, finally favouring Hunt over Adelsohn Liljeroth.(1) However, in the light of today's revelations to the Leveson Inquiry, I now realize that this was misguided. For any Swedes who are dissatisfied with their culture minister should spare a thought for their British neighbours. Hunt has emerged as an utterly inappropriate individual to hold public office.(2) Confidential emails reveal that he completely abused his position in relation to the attempted take-over of BSkyB by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. For example, in January 2011, News Corp's chief lobbyist wrote to James Murdoch to tell him that he had "managed to get some info" on an announcement that Hunt was to make to Parliament the following day – even though this was "absolutely illegal!"(3)

As it currently stands, Hunt says he did nothing wrong and James Murdoch dismissed the email comment as a joke.

But this is no laughing matter.

Yet don't be surprised if Hunt clings on to his job: the government needs him to stay in post in order to protect the British Prime Minister, David Cameron.* Cameron is just as guilty of unethical behaviour in his dealings with the Murdoch empire.

One positive thing has emerged out of all this. In his evidence to Leveson, James Murdoch conceded that greater efforts should have been made to "cut out the cancer" of phone hacking at his organisation.(4) Good to see Mr Murdoch accept something that Dennis Potter pointed out many years ago: Rupert Murdoch is a cancer that has infected and undermined British society for decades.(5)

The parlous state of Jeremy Hunt’s political health is a direct consequence of that cancer.

Get well soon, Jeremy!

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Notes

(1) "Let them eat cake, Lena", 18/04/2012, http://www.stuartburch.com/1/post/2012/04/let-them-eat-cake-lena.html.
(2) A hint of Hunt's partial handling of cultural affairs is outlined in my blog posting, "Hunt's cunning stunt", 23/03/2012 http://www.stuartburch.com/1/post/2012/03/hunts-cunning-stunt.html.
(3) "James Murdoch at the Leveson inquiry - live coverage", http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/apr/24/leveson-inquiry-phone-hacking.
(4) Ibid.
(5) "Dennis Potter and Rupert", 19/07/2011, http://www.stuartburch.com/1/post/2011/07/dennis-potter-and-rupert.html.

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Supplemental
25/04/2012

* Another figure to watch out for is Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education and a former journalist at The Times. He is apparently "greatly admired by Rupert Murdoch". For his part the politician is less enamoured by the Leveson Inquiry, describing it as having a "chilling effect on freedom of speech". The man is clearly beyond parody.

See Nicholas Watt, "Leveson inquiry has chilling effect on freedom of speech, says Michael Gove", The Guardian, 21/02/2012, http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/feb/21/leveson-chilling-freedom-speech-gove.

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