Hunt flounders in very choppy water

Jeremy Hunt’s statement today confirmed that News Corps’ takeover bid for BSkyB was being referred to the Competition Commission. But the questions afterwards were dominated by Labour questions about Andy Coulson’s appointment.

Hunt could not answer whether or not Coulson had been positively vetted. Nor, could he say when Cameron and Coulson last spoke. Indeed, Hunt initially claimed Cameron had not spoken to his former director of communications since Coulson stepped down, before quickly correcting himself.

The Culture Secretary did do a decent job of sounding reasonable and bemoaning Labour’s tone. But without a proper line on Coulson, he was left floundering.

There were two other things worth noting from the session. First, how tepid Hunt’s support for the assistant commissioner of the Met John Yates was when Tom Watson and Chris Bryant called for his resignation. Second, how many Tory MPs seemed to agree with Eleanor Laing when she called on Rupert Murdoch to withdraw his bid for BSkyB.