http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cba8a85a-b...#ixzz1SagagzzX
By George Parker in London and Jim Pickard in Lagos
Quote:
David Cameron will on Wednesday face his biggest parliamentary test since becoming Britain’s prime minister, as he attempts to extricate himself from the phone hacking scandal and his dangerous liaison with Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.
Mr Cameron flew back from a trip to Africa on Tuesday night with aides insisting that suggestions he might resign over the affair were “ridiculous”. He will give a statement on the government’s response to the scandal to MPs on Wednesday.
While Mr Cameron was in mid-air, Rupert Murdoch was giving lawmakers on the House of Commons culture committee a fascinating insight into his relationship with the prime minister and the sensitivity that surrounded it.
Mr Murdoch’s newspapers backed Mr Cameron in the 2010 election and the media tycoon was rewarded by being invited into 10 Downing St for “a cup of tea” within hours of the prime minister taking office.
“I was asked if I would please come through the backdoor,” Mr Murdoch said, explaining that Mr Cameron did not want him to be photographed entering the building. “I just did what I was told.”
Mr Cameron’s intense links with Mr Murdoch and his media group have caused him huge embarrassment but so far there have been only sporadic calls from a handful of Labour MPs for him to resign. “It’s absolute nonsense,” said Amber Rudd, a Conservative member of parliament. “Of course he won’t resign.”
The prime minister has acknowledged that he was part of a political culture of complicity with Mr Murdoch, which allowed him to exert huge influence over the national debate without little fear of politicians holding him to account.
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Labour MPs are looking forward to his "statement" and will partake of hearty Parliamentary breakfasts and (possibly) liquid lunches before the fray .....
