Murdoch withdraws BSkyB bid in hacking ‘firestorm’
The move came shortly after Prime Minister David Cameron appointed senior judge Lord Justice Leveson to head a public inquiry into the hacking allegations and just hours before MPs backed a Labour motion condemning the takeover plans without a vote.
Mr Cameron said News Corp had made “the right decision” in dropping its bid to buy the 61% share in BSkyB which it did not already own, while his deputy Nick Clegg described it as “the decent and sensible thing to do”.
Labour leader Ed Miliband hailed the development as “a victory for people up and down this country who have been appalled by the revelations of the phone hacking scandal and the failure of News International to take responsibility”.
The collapse of the takeover bid was announced by News Corp deputy chairman Chase Carey, who said it had “become clear that it is too difficult to progress in this climate”. The company would remain “a committed long-term shareholder in BSkyB”.
Shares in BSkyB rallied slightly after the announcement from a low of 683.5p earlier today, but remained significantly below the 850p they achieved earlier this month on hopes of a deal with News Corp.
BSkyB chief executive Jeremy Darroch said the broadcaster remained “very confident in the broadly based growth opportunity” for its business.
Welcoming the development, Mr Cameron said it was time to get on with the inquiry and with the continuing police investigation into claims that News of the World reporters illegally eavesdropped on private phone messages.
“I think this is the right decision,” said the Prime Minister. “I’ve been saying that this company clearly needs to sort out the problems there are at News International, at the News of the World. That must be the priority, not takeovers.”
After flying into London to support for News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks earlier this week, Mr Murdoch will return to mounting pressure on the Murdoch empire in Washington as Senator Jay Rockefeller called for an investigation into whether News Corp’s hacking activities had violated US laws.
Setting out the inquiry’s remit in the House of Commons, Mr Cameron said that those found to be responsible for wrongdoing at the News of the World should be barred from future involvement in the media industry.
“The people involved — whether they were directly responsible for the wrongdoing, sanctioned it, or covered it up, however high or low they go — must not only be brought to justice, they must also have no future role in the running of a media company in our country,” he said.
Mr Cameron made clear that this could include former News of the World editor Andy Coulson, who he appointed director of communications at 10 Downing Street last year.
Mr Coulson had given assurances, not only to him but also to the police, a parliamentary committee and under oath to a court of law that he was not involved in criminality at the paper, said the Prime Minister.
“If it turns out he lied, it won’t just be that he shouldn’t have been in government, it will be that he should be prosecuted,” said the Prime Minister.
Mr Cameron met the family of murdered 13-year-old Milly Dowler, whose mobile phone was illicitly accessed and voicemail messages deleted shortly after her abduction. It was the revelation nine days ago that Milly’s phone was hacked that ignited the furious row over press standards.
The Prime Minister told MPs: “There is a firestorm that is engulfing parts of the media, parts of the police and indeed our political system’s ability to respond.
“What we must do in the coming days and weeks is think above all of the victims, like the Dowler family... to make doubly sure that we get to the bottom of this and that we prosecute those who are responsible.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
