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| Leveson inquiry: Ed Miliband, Harriet Harman, Sir John Major - live | Leveson inquiry: Ed Miliband, Harriet Harman, Sir John Major - live |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| 11.06am: Major is asked about a section in his witness statement on "unfair comment" relating to the peace process in Northern Ireland. He says a framework document on the peace process was leaked by a "very hostile" unionist source to the Times. | |
| He tried to get the Times to halt publication of the document, warning that they would do great harm to the peace process. | |
| The Times went ahead and published the article, to "absolute mayhem in the House of Commons". | |
| "I think that was irresponsible on an issue like this where people's lives are at stake," Major says. | |
| "The government had actually said to them, 'don't do it, this is wrong'. It was a very rare occurence, but it concerned me a lot at the time." | |
| 11.03am: Jay asks Major about media lobbying. In his witness statement, the former prime minister says he can recall no express lobbying by the media on industry issues. | |
| "They expressed their views in the columns of their newspapers ... but there was no direct lobbying," he adds. | |
| 11.02am: The Guardian's Lisa O'Carroll has just tweeted: | |
| Major: the way the Sun treated Neil Kinnock was "pretty way over the top" #leveson . I found him a much more considerable man than portrayed | |
| — lisa o'carroll (@lisaocarroll) June 12, 2012 | |
| 11.00am: Major is asked about the Sun's campaign against Labour's Neil Kinnock in 1992. | |
| The day of the election, the paper said on its front page: ''If Kinnock wins tomorrow, will the last person to leave the country please switch off the lights." The following day, it declared: "It was The Sun wot won it" | |
| He describes it as "crude" and "over the top" but does not think the Sun made a huge amount of difference. | |
| 10.57am: Major says he genuinely believed his Tory party were going to win the 1992 election. | |
| "I may have been delusional, but I thought all the way through we were going to win that election." | |
| 10.55am: Asked why he thinks the Sun supported New Labour in 1997, Major says: "I think it may have had embarassment of supporting us ... and may have had something to do with Calcutt ... and may have had something to do with broadcasting policy." | |
| 10.52am: Jay asks Major whether he was surprised when the Sun came out in support of New Labour in 1997. | |
| Major says he was not surprised, given the paper's criticism of his government. | |
| He adds that the Sun need not have embarked on a "ludicrous charade" of carrying an op-ed by Tony Blair on Europe, then switching its support to New Labour. | |
| He says it could have said the Tories were tired after 18 years, or it could have said Blair hadchanged Labour. | |
| "In many ways Blair was to the right of me," Major says. | |
| "I had gone swimming on the Thames and left my clothes on the riverbank and when I came back Mr Blair was wearing them," he adds. | |
| "Did they change over European policy? I don't think so, despite my conversation with Mr Murdoch," he says. | |
| 10.51am: "It is not very often someone sits in front of a prime minister and says 'I would like you to change your policy and if you do not change your policy our organisation cannot support you,'" Major says. "It is unlikely to be something I would have forgotten." | |
| "I think I would have preferred less of the editorial support and more of the equable news coverage," he adds. | |
| 10.50am: Major says this is the first time he has spoken about that dinner for 15 years because he is now under oath. Only Major, his wife, Rupert Murdoch and Elisabeth Murdoch were present. | |
| He admits to being "laconic" in his autobiography from "time to time". | |
| 10.48am: Major says that in 1997 it was suggested to him that he needed to "get closer" to the Murdoch press. | |
| Major then met Murdoch for lunch in February 1997. During this dinner, Murdoch referred to his newspapers as "we" and said he did not like the government's policy on Europe, Major says. | |
| "He didn't make the usual nod towards editorial independence," Major tells the inquiry. | |
| He suggests that Murdoch wanted Britain to withdraw from the European Union, but says he made clear that was not going to happen. | |
| 10.48am: Sir Gus O'Donnell, then Major's press secretary, suggested Major make a "veiled threat" to Murdoch at one of the pair's meetings, the inquiry hears. Neither Jay nor Major say what this "veiled threat" was, but Major says it is not the sort of thing a prime minister should have been saying so he did not. | |
| 10.45am: Major says he wanted to tell Murdoch that the economy had started recovery. He says he was prepared to take political pain to get inflation down; he adds that it has remained stable since. | |
| 10.41am: Major says he believes the Sun was Murdoch's "house pet", whereas the Times and Sunday Times were given more latitude by the media tycoon. | |
| 10.38am: Jay turns to Major's meetings with newspaper proprietors. | |
| He met Conrad Black, then owner of the Telegraph titles, six times in seven years, and met Rupert Murdoch three times in seven years (14 May 1992, 19 August 1993 and 2 February 1997). | |
| Major says he does not have much recollection of his meetings with Murdoch. "They were plainly unmemorable to us both," he says. | |
| 10.37am: Major says he has no solution to this, but urges the inquiry to think about the effect of this on the public. | |
| Newspapers should be concerned to give the British public accurate information so they are best equip to vote in elections. | |
| "It's a huge important role the newspapers could play and should play but don't play," Major adds. | |
| 10.35am: Major returns to his view of newspapers as "politicised" and offering highly partisan reports of news events. He calls for newspapers to report "accurately, fairly and fully" what politicians have said and the likely impact of that on the British public. | |
| The press are very important in carrying the message to the public, but if the message is perverted by the stance of the newspaper, or because hard news is ommitted … then the public are given much less than they ought to have in making up their mind at a gernal election. | |
| 10.33am: Major says "logging contacts" between politicians and press has some value, but he would argue for a return to the civil service resuming the information roles in Whitehall. | |
| 10.32am: The Guardian's Dan Sabbagh has just tweeted: | |
| Major's noble appeal for civil servant driven press relations is utopian; pols will want + need own personal advisers in mod environment | |
| — Dan Sabbagh (@dansabbagh) June 12, 2012 | |
| 10.31am: Major describes as a "very retrograde step" the advent of party-political communications directors, ushed in with Tony Blair's appointment of Alastair Campbell. | |
| "Once a political appointee speaks for government, the word of the government is no longer unquestioned," Major says. | |
| He believes that an apolitical civil servant should be responsible for presenting the "unvarnished" truth in non-selective press briefings. This, too, has become a common theme in this module of the inquiry. | |
| 10.27am: Jay turns to personal relationships between journalists and politicians. | 10.27am: Jay turns to personal relationships between journalists and politicians. |
| Major begins by saying that some politicians can have "genuine" friendships with journalists. However, he adds that these relations become harmful when stories leak into the press of private discussions and "splits" in political parties. | Major begins by saying that some politicians can have "genuine" friendships with journalists. However, he adds that these relations become harmful when stories leak into the press of private discussions and "splits" in political parties. |
| I think that perversion, that close relationship, whisks those conversations out in public and worse offers those seeking favours from the press to offer stories ... to the detriment of colleagues. We have seen a lot of that. | I think that perversion, that close relationship, whisks those conversations out in public and worse offers those seeking favours from the press to offer stories ... to the detriment of colleagues. We have seen a lot of that. |
| 10.23am: News and comment in newspapers "has melded to a great extent," says Major, picking up on a theme that has gathered pace in recent weeks at the inquiry. He suggests that this has been fastened by the advent of 24-hour news channels. | 10.23am: News and comment in newspapers "has melded to a great extent," says Major, picking up on a theme that has gathered pace in recent weeks at the inquiry. He suggests that this has been fastened by the advent of 24-hour news channels. |
| "Ideally, you would keep that apart," Major says of news and comment in newspapers. He is not the first politician to back that recommendation. | "Ideally, you would keep that apart," Major says of news and comment in newspapers. He is not the first politician to back that recommendation. |
| 10.20am: There are some good parts of the press and some parts "that are not very good at all," says Major. | 10.20am: There are some good parts of the press and some parts "that are not very good at all," says Major. |
| They don't report the news accurately; they tend to deal in charactures ... it takes something that has a tiny kernel of truth in it, perhaps, and stretches it far beyond where it can honestly go. | They don't report the news accurately; they tend to deal in charactures ... it takes something that has a tiny kernel of truth in it, perhaps, and stretches it far beyond where it can honestly go. |
| Major says he is not talking about the British press as a whole. He says any effective regulation will "lift the worst of the British press to the best of the British press". | Major says he is not talking about the British press as a whole. He says any effective regulation will "lift the worst of the British press to the best of the British press". |
| He suggests that the balance in favour of free expression is now so great in Britain that people are not protected "from things that are unfair, untrue or malicious". | He suggests that the balance in favour of free expression is now so great in Britain that people are not protected "from things that are unfair, untrue or malicious". |
| 10.18am: Major decided to phone MacKenzie to see what he thought about the day, given that it had attracted various interpretations throughout. | 10.18am: Major decided to phone MacKenzie to see what he thought about the day, given that it had attracted various interpretations throughout. |
| "I dare say it wasn't an especially productive call," he adds. | "I dare say it wasn't an especially productive call," he adds. |
| 10.18am: Major says he does not recollect the same conversation as has entered mythology. | 10.18am: Major says he does not recollect the same conversation as has entered mythology. |
| "There are more myths about Black Wednesday than the Greeks ever created," he says. | "There are more myths about Black Wednesday than the Greeks ever created," he says. |
| 10.15am: Major is asked about his now famous telephone call with the then Sun editor, Kelvin MacKenzie, following the UK's exit from the Exchange Rate Mechanism on "Black Wednesday" in 1992. | 10.15am: Major is asked about his now famous telephone call with the then Sun editor, Kelvin MacKenzie, following the UK's exit from the Exchange Rate Mechanism on "Black Wednesday" in 1992. |
| MacKenzie told the inquiry: | MacKenzie told the inquiry: |
| I said I've got a bucket of shit on my desk, prime minister, and I'm going to pour it all over you. | I said I've got a bucket of shit on my desk, prime minister, and I'm going to pour it all over you. |
| Asked about his relationship with Major in the early 1990s, MacKenzie told the inquiry: "No, we did not have a particularly good relationship. He was no Thatcher, John Major." | Asked about his relationship with Major in the early 1990s, MacKenzie told the inquiry: "No, we did not have a particularly good relationship. He was no Thatcher, John Major." |
| 10.14am: Major says the press to him "was a source of wonder". The press told him what he was about to do (but in reality he wasn't), told him what he was thinking (that he wasn't) and told him what he had done (that he hadn't). | 10.14am: Major says the press to him "was a source of wonder". The press told him what he was about to do (but in reality he wasn't), told him what he was thinking (that he wasn't) and told him what he had done (that he hadn't). |
| Leveson quips: "I've had that feeling," to laughter in the courtroom. | Leveson quips: "I've had that feeling," to laughter in the courtroom. |
| 10.13am: Major confirms that he was "much too sensitive from time to time about what the press wrote". | 10.13am: Major confirms that he was "much too sensitive from time to time about what the press wrote". |
| "God knows why I was, but I was," he adds. "It is a basic human emotion to get a bit ratty about it." | "God knows why I was, but I was," he adds. "It is a basic human emotion to get a bit ratty about it." |
| 10.11am: Major says his distance to the press "clearly wasn't very amenable" to some sections of the industry. | 10.11am: Major says his distance to the press "clearly wasn't very amenable" to some sections of the industry. |
| This may be a contributory factor to his hostile coverage, he adds. | This may be a contributory factor to his hostile coverage, he adds. |
| "It's perfectly understandable to be hostile to people you don't know rather than people you know well." | "It's perfectly understandable to be hostile to people you don't know rather than people you know well." |
| Major says that after the 1992 election the press were not hostile, but "even". | Major says that after the 1992 election the press were not hostile, but "even". |
| 10.09am: In his witness statement, Major says he did not seek a special relationship with any media group. | 10.09am: In his witness statement, Major says he did not seek a special relationship with any media group. |
| "It was quixotic for me not to be close to the press," he adds. Major says he chose not to get close to the press both because he would not do it very well and because he saw it as "rather undignified". | "It was quixotic for me not to be close to the press," he adds. Major says he chose not to get close to the press both because he would not do it very well and because he saw it as "rather undignified". |
| "I thought a relative distance between the press and me, and my government, would be a good idea," Major says. He adds that he was not hostile to the press. | "I thought a relative distance between the press and me, and my government, would be a good idea," Major says. He adds that he was not hostile to the press. |
| "I thought too close a personal relationship was probably not for me," he says, adding: "I don't think it's the role of the prime minister to court the press, and I think it is undignified if it is done too obviously." | "I thought too close a personal relationship was probably not for me," he says, adding: "I don't think it's the role of the prime minister to court the press, and I think it is undignified if it is done too obviously." |
| 10.07am: Thatcher and Murdoch shared similar views on the European Union and other key policies, plus her "iconic" status following the Falklands conflict. She also admired "buccaneering businessmen," Major says. | 10.07am: Thatcher and Murdoch shared similar views on the European Union and other key policies, plus her "iconic" status following the Falklands conflict. She also admired "buccaneering businessmen," Major says. |
| 10.05am: Major says in his witness statement that he saw "at first hand" Rupert Murdoch's relationship with Margaret Thatcher. | 10.05am: Major says in his witness statement that he saw "at first hand" Rupert Murdoch's relationship with Margaret Thatcher. |
| "I saw it from a reasonably good vantage point," Major explains, adding that Thatchers right-of-centre views and policies "particularly appealed" to newspaper proprietors. | "I saw it from a reasonably good vantage point," Major explains, adding that Thatchers right-of-centre views and policies "particularly appealed" to newspaper proprietors. |
| 10.04am: A live video stream of today's hearing is available on the Leveson inquiry website here. | 10.04am: A live video stream of today's hearing is available on the Leveson inquiry website here. |
| 10.03am: Sir John Major is the first witness of the day. He is sworn in and has taken the stand. | 10.03am: Sir John Major is the first witness of the day. He is sworn in and has taken the stand. |
| Robert Jay QC, counsel to the inquiry, is leading the questioning. | Robert Jay QC, counsel to the inquiry, is leading the questioning. |
| 10.01am: The Guardian's Lisa O'Carroll has just tweeted: | 10.01am: The Guardian's Lisa O'Carroll has just tweeted: |
| Jay currently doing a Kirsty young at channel 5, perching on desk as he chats with fellow barristers. V relaxed as leveson prepares major | Jay currently doing a Kirsty young at channel 5, perching on desk as he chats with fellow barristers. V relaxed as leveson prepares major |
| — lisa o'carroll (@lisaocarroll) June 12, 2012 | — lisa o'carroll (@lisaocarroll) June 12, 2012 |
| 09.56am: Good morning and welcome to the Leveson inquiry live blog. | 09.56am: Good morning and welcome to the Leveson inquiry live blog. |
| Former prime minister Sir John Major, Labour leader Ed Miliband and shadow culture secretary Harriet Harman will give evidence to the inquiry into press standards today. | Former prime minister Sir John Major, Labour leader Ed Miliband and shadow culture secretary Harriet Harman will give evidence to the inquiry into press standards today. |
| Major faced stinging criticism from the press during his seven years as prime minister, before losing the 1997 general election to Tony Blair's New Labour which had won the support of Rupert Murdoch's newspaper titles. | Major faced stinging criticism from the press during his seven years as prime minister, before losing the 1997 general election to Tony Blair's New Labour which had won the support of Rupert Murdoch's newspaper titles. |
| The inquiry is likely to ask Major whether he felt he was harshly treated during his premiership, amid reports that he took newspaper criticism to heart. | The inquiry is likely to ask Major whether he felt he was harshly treated during his premiership, amid reports that he took newspaper criticism to heart. |
| Miliband will also give evidence. The Labour leader and Harman, his deputy, have been fierce critics of News International since summer last year, when public outrage mounted over phone hacking in the wake of the Milly Dowler revelations. | Miliband will also give evidence. The Labour leader and Harman, his deputy, have been fierce critics of News International since summer last year, when public outrage mounted over phone hacking in the wake of the Milly Dowler revelations. |
| The pair will be asked about their own contact with newspaper groups and proposals for the future of press regulation. | The pair will be asked about their own contact with newspaper groups and proposals for the future of press regulation. |
| The inquiry begins at 10am. | The inquiry begins at 10am. |
| Please note that comments have been switched off for legal reasons. | Please note that comments have been switched off for legal reasons. |