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CHANCELLOR George Osborne told the Leveson Inquiry that he was an "an external observer" of News Corporation 's bid for BSkyB. Mr Osborne said he did not have a "strong view" on the merits ofthe bid. He said he regarded the "whole thing" as a "politicalinconvenience". Mr Osborne told the inquiry that he had not had a "strong viewabout its merits because as far as I could see it was just going tocause us trouble one way or the other". He said that whichever way it went, it was either going to offendone media camp or another. Mr Osborne added: "I regarded the whole thing as a politicalinconvenience and something we just had to deal with, and the bestway to deal with it was to stick to the process." He said he was "merely an external observer of the process" andsaid he had had no "specific conversations" about it with eitherBusiness Secretary Vince Cable , who was initially responsible for it, or Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt , who later took over responsibility. The quasi-judicial role was transferred to Mr Hunt after Mr Cable 's opposition to the bid was exposed in the media. Mr Osborne said he had not even been aware of the Prime Minister'sview of the bid and said he had had only one conversation with News Corp 's James Murdoch about it. And Mr Osborne dismissed suggestions of a conspiracy around MrCable being stripped of responsibility for the bid after he wassecretly taped suggesting he had "declared war" on Mr Murdoch. He said: "You have to be a real fantasist to believe that comethese events we had knowingly allowed Vince Cable to be secretlyrecorded, we knowingly told the Telegraph not to publish thatinformation. "That information then emerges in the middle of the afternoon andwe then, all part of this cunning plan, put Mr Hunt in charge. "It doesn't stack up." Lord Justice Leveson was told of a text exchange between MrOsborne's special adviser, Rupert Harrison, and News Corporation lobbyist Frederic Michel in November 2010. Mr Michel had texted asking if Mr Osborne might write to Mr Cableregarding the "Sky merger". Mr Harrison had replied: "We will have to discuss it with g when heis back from China ." Lord Justice Leveson suggested that Mr Harrison might have repliedby saying: "This is a judicial process. We are not interfering. Beoff with you." Mr Osborne told the judge: "He was being diplomatic." He added: "There were lots of people at the time saying 'the bidshould go ahead' or 'the bid should not go ahead' and people weresaying things at drinks parties and events of various kinds. "When you are doing a job like mine or working as a special adviserfor someone like myself you get asked about a whole range of thingsthe whole time. "In this case I think what Mr Harrison was doing is absorbing MrMichel's texts. "The key thing is he doesn't raise it with me." He said Mr Harrison had not behaved "improperly". Mr Osborne was also asked about a text exchange with Mr Hunt onDecember 21 2010 - the day Mr Cable was stripped of responsibilityfor the bid. Shortly after 4pm, Mr Hunt texted Mr Osborne saying he wanted tochat about the Sky bid and was worried "we are going to screw thisup". He then said James Murdoch had concerns about the legitimacy of the process. Mr Osbornetexted in reply: "I hope you like the solution." Mr Osborne today told the inquiry that he meant the solution to theCable problem. He explained "My reference here is to the solution to thatparticular problem - Dr Cable's remarks." - Sam Lister, Rosa Silverman and Brian Farmer Press Association. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as CNC Lathe Parts Manufacturer , CNC Precision Machining Manufacturer for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Aluminum Die Castings.
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