Leveson Inquiry

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Stephen Phillips

Wednesday 25th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

It is a matter of great regret to me that what happened happened, but if I may say so, I think the Labour party also has some lessons to learn about managing special advisers when it was in office.

[Stephen Phillips (Sleaford and North Hykeham) (Con)]

“Sentence first—verdict afterwards” may well be a principle that is sufficient in Alice in Wonderland, but it is not the principle of English law, it is not the principle of public life and it is certainly not a principle that ought to be observed in this House. Does my right hon. Friend share my disappointment that the opportunism that we have heard from the right hon. and learned Member for Camberwell and Peckham (Ms Harman) today demonstrates contempt for due process—the precise form of contempt of which he is himself accused?

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. and learned Friend makes an excellent point. Let me remind him of what Lord Justice Leveson said this morning. He said, “I do not seek to constrain Parliament, but it seems to me that the better course is to allow this inquiry to proceed.”

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Hunt and Stephen Phillips

Thursday 28th April 2011 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Phillips (Sleaford and North Hykeham) (Con)]

6. What steps he is taking to ensure scrutiny of expenditure by the BBC.

[The Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (Mr Jeremy Hunt)]

In September last year, my right hon. Friend the Member for Bath (Mr Foster) announced full access for the National Audit Office to the BBC accounts, and I am confident that plans will be in place to allow that to happen by November this year in accordance with our departmental business plan.

[Stephen Phillips]

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that answer. At the moment, funding for the World Service comes from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office budget, as a result of which it is subject to scrutiny by the Public Accounts Committee. When funding for the World Service transfers to the BBC, how will he ensure that those arrangements remain in place?

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend makes a very important point, and that is exactly why it is important that the National Audit Office has full, unrestricted access to the BBC’s accounts, including the ability to examine its spending on the BBC World Service. I have a meeting with the incoming chairman of the BBC Trust on 9 May, and I will discuss that very point with him then.