Chancellor met News Corp chiefs 16 times

CHANCELLOR of the exchequer George Osborne has met executives of News Corporation companies on 16 occasions since the coalition government took power, it has been revealed.

Details of the meetings were released as the government published records of all ministerial contacts with senior media executives, in the wake of the controversy over phone hacking at the News Corp-owned News of the World and Murdoch’s ditched bid to take over BSkyB.

It also emerged News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch was the first senior media figure to meet Jeremy Hunt after he was appointed culture secretary in May last year — though this was before Hunt was given responsibility for deciding on the BSkyB bid.