Phone hacking report: Alex Salmond refuses to back Parliament's report
Alex Salmond yesterday moved to block a parliamentary inquiry into phone hacking in Scotland after refusing to endorse a report by MPs that concluded Rupert Murdoch is not a “fit person” to run his media empire.
Rupert Murdoch and Alex Salmond during the opening of News International's Eurocentral printing plant in Motherwell in 2007 Photo: PA
The First Minister rejected a united call from the leaders of the three main opposition parties for MSPs to investigate the extent of hacking north of the Border, arguing it was not necessary.
Evidence has emerged this week that both the mobile phones of Jack McConnell, his predecessor as First Minister, and Joan McAlpine, his parliamentary aide, were hacked by the now defunct News of the World.
But Mr Salmond yesterday refused to back a report by the Commons culture, media and sport committee that said Mr Murdoch demonstrated “wilful blindness” to the extent of the criminal activity in News Corporation.
Tom Watson, a Labour MP at the forefront of the Westminster inquiry, said Holyrood should follow suit and Tommy Sheridan was wrongly convicted of perjury during his defamation action against the News of the World.
SNP ministers now face a political battle to prevent one of Holyrood’s committees investigating phone hacking or the parliament’s business bureau setting up a new body to conduct an inquiry.
This would pile even more pressure on Mr Salmond, who has been struggling to justify being the world’s only political leader still enjoying a close relationship with Mr Murdoch.
E-mails disclosed to the entirely separate Leveson Inquiry last week showed he offer to lobby the Government for the media tycoon’s takeover of BSkyB “whenever” his News Corporation empire wanted.
The Westminster committee was split six to four in favour of Mr Murdoch being “unfit” to run News Corporation, with the Tory members refusing to back this conclusion and branding it “partisan”.
Mr Salmond refused even to say whether he backed this conclusion, arguing that Mr Murdoch should not be judged by politicians and this should be left to “independent authorities”.
“In terms of the suggestion of a separate Scottish inquiry, the Scottish justice system does not need any lectures from Tom Watson, who seems unaware of the fact that the Leveson Inquiry includes Scotland within its remit, and the fact that a Strathclyde Police special unit are currently investigating allegations of criminality in Scotland,” he said.
Mr Salmond’s spokesman refused to confirm whether his phone was also hacked, saying that he would make this clear during his appearance next month at the Leveson Inquiry.
But opposition parties said he is also accountable to the Scottish Parliament and he should agree to an investigation by MSPs into his links with Mr Murdoch “in the interests of full transparency”.
Willie Rennie, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, said: “In the last few days we have learned that phone hacking reached the very top of government in Scotland. It is right and proper that the Scottish Parliament has the opportunity to look into the phone hacking scandal in its own way and in its own time.”
Johann Lamont, the Scottish Labour leader, accused the First Minister of a cover-up, adding: “While Westminster has had an inquiry into Murdochs and phone hacking, Salmond blocks the Scottish Parliament from having one.”
Ruth Davidson, his Tory counterpart, said Mr Salmond has “a duty to be accountable to the Scottish Parliament.”
One of Holyrood’s existing committees could stage an inquiry into phone hacking, but Mr Salmond can easily block this because SNP MSPs hold a majority on them all.
The alternative is the parliament’s business bureau, which includes a representative from the four main parties, agrees to set up a new body to investigate phone hacking in Scotland.
Unveiling the Commons report, Mr Watson said he was writing to Mr Salmond to argue for an investigation into the hacking of Lord McConnell’s phone while he was First Minister and “how and why (other) MSPs were targeted”.
He said Sheridan was jailed for three years by a jury “not in full possession of the facts” and Mr Murdoch should order an urgent review of the information News International provided to the court.
Mr Salmond initially dismissed e-mails showing he was willing to lobby for the media mogul as “chatter”, but then claimed his actions were motivated by a desire to protect jobs and not the Scottish Sun’s decision to back the SNP.
However, he has failed so far to produce evidence of how the BSkyB takeover would have helped the Scottish economy.
Jeremy Hunt, the Culture Secretary who was expected to rule on the bid, has confirmed Mr Salmond's office made repeated requests to set up a telephone conversation.
