Search: Nick Clegg phone hacking scandal BSkyB
The phone hacking scandal has uncovered "murky practices and dodgy relationships" at the heart of Britain's establishment, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has said.
Mr Clegg said that the judge-led inquiry into the hacking allegations provided a once-in-a-generation opportunity to clean up the media, politics and the police, by legislation if necessary. Politicians must be ready to accept Lord Justice Leveson's recommendations and act on them, he said.
The Deputy Prime Minister's comments came as Prime Minister David Cameron was under renewed pressure over his contacts with senior executives at News Corporation, after aides confirmed he had discussed the company's bid to take over BSkyB with them.
Downing Street said Mr Cameron could not rule out that BSkyB was mentioned during the Prime Minister's meetings with News Corp figures, including chairman Rupert Murdoch and former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks, but insisted that none of his conversations were "inappropriate".
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Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt - who had responsibility for making the final decision on the bid, which has now been dropped - told MPs on Wednesday night: "The discussions the Prime Minister had on the BSkyB deal were irrelevant. They were irrelevant because the person who had the responsibility... the person who was making this decision was myself."
At a Whitehall press conference, Mr Clegg said: "I think that we now have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to really clean up the murky practices and dodgy relationships which have taken root at the very heart of the British establishment between the press, politicians and the police.
"That is what we now need to get on and do. That's what the independent judge-led inquiry will allow us to do. We must act on any recommendations from that inquiry quickly, if necessary through legislation as well."
Mr Clegg said the hacking scandal, and allegations that police officers were paid by the press for information, had "shaken" faith in the police and brought public opinion of politicians to an even lower level.
He said Liberal Democrats had been raising concerns about phone hacking even before the general election, and he was the first person in Government to demand a judge-led inquiry into the allegations.
And the Lib Dem leader confirmed he had raised questions at the time of the creation of the coalition about Mr Cameron's decision to bring former News of the World editor Andy Coulson into the heart of the Government as Downing Street director of communications, saying: "I asked questions about some of the decisions about who was being brought into government who had been active in opposition. It was (Mr Cameron's) decision and he has been very frank and candid about the fact that he takes responsibility for it."
