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| Leveson inquiry: Too rude to discuss BSkyB bid at Chequers - Rothermere | Leveson inquiry: Too rude to discuss BSkyB bid at Chequers - Rothermere |
| (about 6 hours later) | |
| Lord Rothermere, the owner of the Daily Mail, said he believed it would have been "rude" to discuss his company's view on Rupert Murdoch's bid for BSkyB at a weekend at the prime minister's country retreat a month after the bid was announced. | Lord Rothermere, the owner of the Daily Mail, said he believed it would have been "rude" to discuss his company's view on Rupert Murdoch's bid for BSkyB at a weekend at the prime minister's country retreat a month after the bid was announced. |
| Rothermere, the executive chairman of Daily Mail & General Trust, told the Leveson inquiry on Thursday morning that he had been to Chequers on July 10 and 11, 2010 – two months after the general election – for a "friendly weekend" at which David and Samantha Cameron were present, but said that the bid his company later opposed did not come up. | Rothermere, the executive chairman of Daily Mail & General Trust, told the Leveson inquiry on Thursday morning that he had been to Chequers on July 10 and 11, 2010 – two months after the general election – for a "friendly weekend" at which David and Samantha Cameron were present, but said that the bid his company later opposed did not come up. |
| Education secretary Michael Gove and his wife Sarah were also at the weekend, and the group was joined for Sunday lunch by the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, and his wife Lucia, and Cameron's former boss, the one-time ITV mogul Michael Green. But Rothermere said media topics rarely arose in the elevated company. | Education secretary Michael Gove and his wife Sarah were also at the weekend, and the group was joined for Sunday lunch by the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, and his wife Lucia, and Cameron's former boss, the one-time ITV mogul Michael Green. But Rothermere said media topics rarely arose in the elevated company. |
| Rothermere denied they discussed the bid by Murdoch's News Corporation for full control of Sky at lunch or over the weekend. | Rothermere denied they discussed the bid by Murdoch's News Corporation for full control of Sky at lunch or over the weekend. |
| He was pressed on the subject by Robert Jay QC, counsel to the inquiry, who said the media baron's reluctance to press any case showed "admirable self-restraint". | He was pressed on the subject by Robert Jay QC, counsel to the inquiry, who said the media baron's reluctance to press any case showed "admirable self-restraint". |
| Replying, the peer said: "At Chequers it was a friendly weekend. We were getting on … I didn't want to bring up business. It's sort of rude to do that if you're invited to someone else, even if it is the prime minister, on a friendly basis." | Replying, the peer said: "At Chequers it was a friendly weekend. We were getting on … I didn't want to bring up business. It's sort of rude to do that if you're invited to someone else, even if it is the prime minister, on a friendly basis." |
| The only discussion about media topics Rothermere had over lunch was at the behest of Hunt. "The only conversation I had with any minister about media issues was when Jeremy Hunt arrived," he told the inquiry. "We talked a bit about local TV. Jeremy was very passionate about his ideas for local TV and wanted us to be a core participant of that." | The only discussion about media topics Rothermere had over lunch was at the behest of Hunt. "The only conversation I had with any minister about media issues was when Jeremy Hunt arrived," he told the inquiry. "We talked a bit about local TV. Jeremy was very passionate about his ideas for local TV and wanted us to be a core participant of that." |
| Rothermere's DMGT was one of a group of media owners, including the publishers of the Guardian, Daily Telegraph and Daily Mirror, that joined up to oppose News Corp's £8bn bid for BSkyB. | Rothermere's DMGT was one of a group of media owners, including the publishers of the Guardian, Daily Telegraph and Daily Mirror, that joined up to oppose News Corp's £8bn bid for BSkyB. |
| But the peer said that he and his company did not become really concerned until the autumn of 2010 when they began to fear what Murdoch could do by bundling consumer offers for Sky TV and the company's newspapers. | But the peer said that he and his company did not become really concerned until the autumn of 2010 when they began to fear what Murdoch could do by bundling consumer offers for Sky TV and the company's newspapers. |
| The peer told the inquiry that he could not recall discussing the bid with any politicians, and added that he had never met or spoken to the business secretary Vince Cable, who initially had the responsibility for clearing the takeover. He said it did not come up in a formal August 2010 meeting with Hunt either. | The peer told the inquiry that he could not recall discussing the bid with any politicians, and added that he had never met or spoken to the business secretary Vince Cable, who initially had the responsibility for clearing the takeover. He said it did not come up in a formal August 2010 meeting with Hunt either. |
| The Chequers meeting was the only time Rothermere has met Cameron since he became prime minister. The peer published his diary of meetings with top politicians to the inquiry, which showed that he has met no Labour politicians since the May 2010 election. | The Chequers meeting was the only time Rothermere has met Cameron since he became prime minister. The peer published his diary of meetings with top politicians to the inquiry, which showed that he has met no Labour politicians since the May 2010 election. |
| His diary records dinner with the chancellor, George Osborne, in September 2010 and a lunch the following month ahead of a speech by a man he regularly addressed by his Christian name. There were also frequent meetings with Gove, who with his wife was invited to a country weekend at the peer's home in October 2010, and dinner at Mark's Club in December 2010 and February 2011. | His diary records dinner with the chancellor, George Osborne, in September 2010 and a lunch the following month ahead of a speech by a man he regularly addressed by his Christian name. There were also frequent meetings with Gove, who with his wife was invited to a country weekend at the peer's home in October 2010, and dinner at Mark's Club in December 2010 and February 2011. |
| Rothermere said that he believed that it was his job to remain politically neutral – he sits as a cross bencher in the House of Lords – and have a hands off role as regards his newspapers. | |
| His witness statement to the inquiry said "our newspapers do not have political allegiances", prompting Jay to challenge the peer, noting that the Conservative supporting newspaper "at general election time usually makes its position clear, doesn't it"? Rothermere, after a short slightly embarrassed pause, simply responded by saying "yeah". | |
| The peer said he rarely sent text messages to politicians – saying he only could recall texting Cameron and Nick Clegg once each. His message to Cameron, sent after one of the general election leaders' debates said: "Congratulations on a job well done." | |
| He also said that he "teased" Paul Dacre about the Daily Mail editor-in-chief's closeness to Gordon Brown, when the Labour politician was chancellor and later prime minister. | |
| "I thought it was amusing and I used to tease Paul about it, but basically he was entitled to have a relationship with whoever he wants," said Rothermere. "Paul has … an economic view of the world which is quite different from Gordon, but they shared an affinity with one another, which is surprising." | |
| The owner of the Daily Mail also briefly talked about his relationship with Richard Desmond, the owner of Express Newspaper. Rothermere said that a former DMGT executive, Murdoch MacLennan, had tried and failed to negotiate an end to personal attacks on him by Desmond's paper in a meeting in 2001. | |
| Rothermere noted that personal attacks on him continued in the Daily Express, adding: "I wasn't that offended by it. He seemed to think the fact that I have an illegitimate son is of some concern … I'm very proud of my son, he's a member of my family, we go on holiday together and my children are very proud to call them their brother and I don't make a secret of it and the idea that I'm offended by it is slightly offensive." | |
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