Hydrablog

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/13/world/europe/british-hacking-inquiry-sharpens-political-divide.html
June 12, 2012
British Ex-Premier Says Murdoch Press ‘Lowered Tone’
By ALAN COWELL [UK] [London] [I have tended to stay away from this entire hacking—in London, the word refers to illicitly breaking into one telephone answering service—scandal] [mostly as it deals with British media owned by Murdoch] [but it overlaps with politics as Murdoch and some of his managers have close relationships with politicians and raise money for them] [here, John Major gives deposition of the influence] [*]
LONDON — As the judicial inquiry into the British press sifts painstakingly through competing claims about the influence of Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers, former Prime Minister John Major disclosed for what he said was the first time on Tuesday that Mr. Murdoch withdrew his newspapers’ support for the Conservatives after Mr. Major refused a demand for changes in his policies on Europe. [*]
The assertion in a morning of testimony offered some clues to the extent of Mr. Murdoch’s perceived influence on British public life — a key issue under scrutiny by Lord Justice Sir Brian Leveson’s inquiry. [*]There was no immediate response from Mr. Murdoch, who has told the inquiry that he never asked for anything from British prime ministers. Mr. Major coupled his revelation with sharp criticism of the role played by Mr. Murdoch’s newspapers, saying some parts of his media empire “have lowered the general quality of the British media.” [*]
“I think they have lowered the tone,” he said. “The interaction that there has been with politicians has done no good either to the press or to the politicians.”
He described Mr. Murdoch’s influence “whether he exercises it or not” as “unattractive.”
“It does seem to me an oddity that in a nation which prides itself on one man, one vote, we should have one man who can’t vote with a large collection of newspapers and a large share of the electronic media outlets,” Mr. Major said.
Mr. Major was among several political leaders past and present set to testify before the inquiry over four days this week. The concentration of high-ranking figures at the inquiry has provoked speculation that the hearings could be among the most politically charged so far in the investigation. The hearings will culminate on Thursday with a daylong appearance by Prime Minister David Cameron.
Mr. Major said he met Mr. Murdoch three times in his seven years in office. On the last occasion, in February 1997, Mr. Murdoch told him that, if the ruling Conservatives did not change their policies toward the European Union, his newspapers would not maintain their long-running support for Mr. Major’s party.
“He wished me to change our European policies. If we couldn’t change our European policies, his papers could not, would not support our Conservative government,” Mr. Major said.
He added: “It’s not very often someone sits in front of a prime minister and says to a prime minister ‘I would like you to change your policy, and if you don’t change your policy my organization cannot support you.’ ”
Shortly after that meeting, Mr. Murdoch’s flagship tabloid, The Sun, switched allegiance to Tony Blair’s Labour Party, which won the general election in May 1997, ending 18 years of Conservative rule. Mr. Blair testified before the inquiry in late May. [*]
“I haven’t talked about this conversation at any stage over the past 15 years, but now I am under oath. I was asked the question, and I have answered the question,” Mr. Major said.
News International, the British newspaper subsidiary of Mr. Murdoch’s News Corporation, rebutted Mr. Major’s remarks in a statement, saying its British titles “did not act in unison” in the 1997 vote, with The Sunday Times supporting Mr. Major, The Times of London neutral, and The Sun and the News of the World supporting Labour.
Mr. Murdoch’s sway over British politics emerged in a more textured light on Monday when another former prime minister, Gordon Brown of Labour, leveled thinly veiled charges that the Conservatives struck a kind of compact with Mr. Murdoch to secure his support in the 2010 elections that thrust Labour from power.
Within hours of Mr. Brown’s testimony, the serving chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, a senior Conservative, took the stand at the inquiry to dismiss such notions as “nonsense.”
The exchange illustrated some of the tripwires: no politician of any party wants to allow an impression of being, or having been, in Mr. Murdoch’s pocket. Accusations of complicity with him have thus come to resemble a weapon, deployed by both sides of a political elite that, testimony has shown, was acutely aware of the tycoon’s potential influence. [*]
In testimony on Tuesday after Mr. Major’s three-hour appearance, Ed Miliband, the leader of the Labour opposition, said there had been “a failure to get to grips with” issues raised by the phone hacking scandal “by the press, the police, who did not investigate properly, and I think politicians, who were aware of some of what was going on and did not speak out."
He added: "Organisations like News International had huge power and I think politicians were reticent to speak about some of these practices that were exposed. I include myself in that."
Sarah Lyall contributed reporting.