Labour renews calls for Jeremy Hunt to quit after Leveson email

Labour has renewed calls for Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt to resign after suggestions he sought "private advice" from News Corp over phone hacking.

Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman said this was "absolutely not acceptable" and that Mr Hunt was "not fit" to remain in his position.

An email at the Leveson Inquiry, sent to ex-News International chief Rebekah Brooks, said Mr Hunt wanted "guidance".

Mr Hunt is resisting calls to quit, claiming the email was "inaccurate".

The email, from News Corporation public affairs executive Fred Michel to Mrs Brooks, dated 27 June 2011, predicted correctly that Mr Hunt would play down the influence of the phone-hacking scandal on the company's bid for full control of BSkyB.

The message stated that Mr Hunt wanted to "prevent a public inquiry".

Ms Harman said: "How much more evidence does David Cameron need that this man is not fit to hold this high office?"

She added: "Clearly there was complete collusion between the secretary of state and his office and News Corp on a bid where he was supposed to be impartial, which is why he should not be in his job.

"Either he didn't know what was going on on an £8bn bid, in which case he shouldn't be in his job and he should be sacked, or he did know and he is covering up and blaming everybody else, in which case he should be sacked."

Labour MP Chris Bryant said Mr Hunt and Prime Minister David Cameron did not have any "alibis" left after Lord Justice Leveson "made it clear that he will not rule on the ministerial code".

Denis MacShane, the Labour MP for Rotherham, said Mr Hunt's time as a minister was coming to an end.

He said: "It's over for Jeremy Hunt. What we found out is what everyone half knew in the House of Commons, that he was openly colluding with the Murdoch empire on the question of BSkyB.

"Now his position is untenable and when Parliament gets going next week, I think that's going to be the case."

But a spokeswoman for the culture secretary said: "Jeremy Hunt will respond to this when he gives evidence to the Leveson Inquiry in due course.

"He is confident his evidence will vindicate the position that he has behaved with integrity on every issue.

"It has already been made clear that when Fred Michel has claimed in emails to be speaking to Jeremy Hunt that was not the case.

"On July 11 2011 Jeremy Hunt wrote to Ofcom for further advice about the impact of phone hacking on the BSkyB bid."

Mr Hunt's officials point out that Mr Michel has already admitted that the only contact he had was with the culture secretary's adviser, Adam Smith, who resigned last month.

The email to Mrs Brooks emerged while she was giving evidence on Friday to Lord Justice Leveson's inquiry into media ethics.

Mr Hunt was the cabinet minister tasked with deciding if the BSkyB takeover could go ahead.

Mr Hunt himself has said he "strictly followed due process" in the matter, and denied that News Corp had any "back channel" of influence with his office.

Downing Street has said there were "no plans" to investigate whether Mr Hunt had broken the ministerial code, with Mr Cameron saying the culture secretary had acted properly and that it was a matter for the Leveson Inquiry.

Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah have said claims they gave permission for the Sun to publish a story about their son's medical condition were "untrue".

The newspaper ran a story in 2006 about Mr Brown's son Fraser being diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.

Mrs Brooks told the Leveson Inquiry she had the express permission of the Browns to run it.

But the Browns said that "at no stage" was their permission sought.

The phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World led to its closure and the establishment of the Leveson Inquiry, an MPs' inquiry and the launch of three police investigations.

The inquiry is currently looking at the relationship between the media and politicians, and will hear evidence on Monday from former Number 10 press secretary Alistair Campbell.