http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/8881675/Phone-hacking-James-Murdoch-refuses-to-rule-out-Sun-closure.html
Phone hacking: James Murdoch refuses to rule out Sun closure
James Murdoch today refused to rule out closing Britainâs best selling newspaper, The Sun, should the phone hacking scandal spread to that organisation.
By Mark Hughes, Gordon Rayner
6:26PM GMT 10 Nov 2011
The News International chairman made the comment as he faced a day of questioning from MPs over previous evidence he gave to Parliament about the hacking scandal.
At one point he was compared to a mafia boss by one MP.
Mr Murdoch denied misleading the committee when he told them in July this year that he was unaware of the now infamous âfor Nevilleâ email which implicated other reporters at the News of the World in hacking.
But admitted that he had been told about an email which made it clear the company should settle a case with Gordon Taylor, the head of the Professional Footballersâ Association.
Mr Murdoch said he was not told that the email was title âFor Nevilleâ or that the email contained evidence that other journalists at the paper were involved in hacking.
But it was when asked about the conduct of other newspapers in the News International stable that Mr Murdoch refused to rule out closing The Sun.
Earlier this week Sun reporter Jamie Pyatt was arrested in the police investigation into alleged payments from journalists to police officers.
Steve Rotheram MP claimed that The Sun is mentioned in the notes of Glenn Mulcaire, the private detective jailed for phone hacking in 2007.
The MP asked Mr Murdoch: âIf this particular publication is implicated in phone hacking and it is revealed that The Sun does appear in the Mulcaire file, will you close that paper like you did with the News of the World.â
Mr Murdoch said he did not want to pre judge the outcome of any investigation before adding: âI do not think we can rule or I should not rule any corporate reaction to behaviour of wrongdoing out. That will be a decision taken at the time given whatever is out there.â
During his testimony Mr Murdoch faced questions from Tom Watson MP, who has followed the scandal with zeal.
Mr Watson compared Mr Murdochâs News International to a mafia organisation.
He asked Mr Murdoch if he had heard of the mafia and then asked if he had heard the phrase âomertaâ, the mafia code of silence.
He said it was: âA group of people who are bound together by secrecy who together pursue their groups business objectives with no regard for the law, using intimidation, corruption and criminality.
âWould you agree with me that this is an accurate description of News International in the UK.â
Mr Murdoch said he found the comment âoffensiveâ.
Mr Watson then continued with a set of questions probing what knowledge Mr Murdoch had of phone hacking.
He concluded by saying: âYou must be the only mafia boss in history who did not know he was running a criminal empire.â
Mr Murdoch said the comment was inappropriate.
Later John Whittingdale, the committee chair, said Mr Watson was âplaying to the galleryâ.
Previously Tom Crone, the News of the Worldâs head of legal affairs, and Colin Myler, the paperâs former editor, had told the committee that Mr Murdoch was aware of the âfor Nevilleâ email and that he had mislead the committee by claiming he was unaware of it.
Mr Murdoch, however, said that Mr Crone and Mr Myler were the ones who had mislead the committee. âI believe their testimony was misleading,â he said.
....but we dont want it to close and to take the easy way out.
The self destruct bye bye pill.
We want the truth first, accountability second and their humiliation third.
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