Prime Minister David Cameron, criticized for his close ties to senior figures at News Corp., said that Murdoch had “clearly got questions to answer in Parliament.”
Police received a letter on Friday from opposition legislator Tom Watson asking whether Murdoch was involved in illegal efforts to cover up phone hacking.
Detectives investigating a hacking scandal centered on the Murdochs’ now defunct News of the World tabloid were considering the letter, they said. Keeping up the pressure, another Labour member of Parliament wrote to non-executive directors of News Corp. calling on them to suspend James and company chief executive Rupert Murdoch over the scandal.
James Murdoch, chairman of News Corp’s British arm, and his 80-year-old father appeared before parliament’s media committee on Tuesday to answer questions on phone-hacking.
The company had long maintained that the illegal practice was the work of a lone “rogue reporter.” However, two former senior figures at its British newspaper arm have disputed James Murdoch’s claim that he was unaware of an e-mail that suggested as early as 2008 that wrongdoing was more widespread.
“I think this is the most significant moment of two years of investigation into phone hacking,” Watson, a Labour lawmaker, told BBC TV on Friday.
“If their statement is accurate, it shows that James Murdoch had knowledge that others were involved in hacking as early as 2008, that he failed to act to discipline staff or initiate some internal investigation,” added Watson, part of the media committee who has long campaigned to expose wrongdoing at the newspaper.
“If their version of events is accurate, it doesn’t just mean that Parliament has been misled, it means the police have another investigation on their hands,” Watson added.
In a letter to committee chairman John Whittingdale on Friday, James Murdoch said he had answered questions in Parliament truthfully. “I stand by my testimony,” he said, adding that he was preparing a written response to questions raised during his appearance.
Prime Minister Cameron tried to distance himself from the company after his image was tarnished by his decision to hire a former News of the World editor as his communications chief.
“Clearly James Murdoch has got questions to answer in Parliament and I am sure that he will do that,” he told reporters, “and clearly News International has got some big issues to deal with and a mess to clear up.”
“That has to be done by the management of that company. In the end the management of a company must be an issue for the shareholders of that company.”
Ex-News of the World editor Colin Myler and Tom Crone, who was the newspaper group’s top legal officer, accused James Murdoch of giving “mistaken” testimony.
Watson said the dispute between senior figures past and present in News Corp. marked a turning point in efforts to get to the bottom of a scandal dating backing to 2005.
“I think we’re getting near to the core of this now, we’re getting nearer the truth,” Watson said.
“People are beginning to speak out. The company effectively closed ranks three years ago,” he added.
“Now that News of the World is gone, now that the world’s media hold this company in the spotlight, I think individuals are beginning to speak out and we will get the full picture.”
News Corp. long maintained that listening in to voice-mails to get stories was the work of a single reporter after their royal editor was jailed in 2007.
A series of legal actions by celebrities who claimed their mobiles had been hacked undermined that defense and raised questions about how far up the company responsibility went.
