Cameron ‘will attend’ Leveson inquiry if summoned
Prime Minister David Cameron will attend the Leveson Inquiry into press standards if summoned to give evidence, Number 10 has said.
“A request has not yet been received. If asked, the Prime Minister would of course attend,” a Downing Street spokeswoman said.
The Times has reported that Lord Justice Leveson is “99.9 per cent” certain to call Mr Cameron for questioning under oath about his relationship with Rupert Murdoch and about his decision to employ Andy Coulson, the former editor of the defunct News of the World, who quit as Downing Street’s director of communications amid continued pressure about phone hacking.
Mr Cameron’s predecessor in Downing Street, Gordon Brown, and current Labour leader Ed Miliband are also thought to appear when the inquiry shifts focus onto the relations between the media and politicians.
The Times further suggests that Mr Cameron is likely to be called after the local elections in May
The news comes as three editors of broadsheet national newspapers are set to face questioning at Leveson’s probe: The Daily Telegraph’s Tony Gallagher, Lionel Barber of the Financial Times and the Independent’s Chris Blackhurst, who are expected to be asked about their papers’ approaches to ethics, fact-checking and complaints.