Findings 'devastating' to News Corp

MPs' findings about the failure to uncover the extent of phone hacking raise "serious questions" about whether News Corporation is fit to hold a broadcasting licence, a campaigner said.

Martin Moore, from Hacked Off, which lobbies for press reform, said the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee's conclusions are "devastating" to the reputation of the media giant and the Murdoch family.

He went on: "The Select Committee is effectively saying that the most senior figures at News International, either knowingly or by a culpable failure to act properly, covered up illegal activities and sustained intrusion into the private lives of hundreds and hundreds of people.

"These findings cannot help but raise serious questions about the fitness of News Corp to hold a broadcasting licence.

"The company could start making amends by coming clean even at this late stage by waiving legal privilege in respect of the Leveson Inquiry over documents held by its law firm, Burton Copeland, as the committee recommends.

"If we didn't have the Leveson Inquiry we would certainly need it now. It remains the task of the inquiry to establish how much further wrongdoing went in this company, who else colluded in the cover-up, both inside and outside the company, and whether these activities went further than News International."

Liberal Democrat president Tim Farron, deputy leader Simon Hughes and media spokesman Don Foster wrote to media regulator Ofcom last July to urge it to conduct an inquiry into whether News Corp was "fit and proper" to hold a TV licence.

Mr Foster urged the regulator today to complete its review as soon as possible.

He said: "Today's Select Committee report concludes that Rupert Murdoch is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company.

"Given the significant role he has in the governance of News Corp, this should be an important consideration in Ofcom's determination.

"It's nearly a year since we asked for this review. The public will want Ofcom to conclude its work on this issue as quickly as possible, and I urge them to do so."