MPs phone hacking report claims that Rupert Murdoch is 'not fit' to run a major organisation
The report by the Culture Media and Sport Select Committee into phone hacking has stated that Rupert Murdoch, CEO and chairman of News Corporation, is 'not a fit person’ to run an international company.
The report, published this morning, has divided opinion of the MPs involved in the months of questioning of employees of News International, which published the now closed News of the World.
One of the conclusions stated within the report, claims that Murdoch did not take enough steps to ensure he was informed about phone-hacking within the company.
The committee report reads: we conclude that, if at all relevant times Rupert Murdoch did not take steps to become fully informed about phone-hacking, he turned a blind eye and exhibited wilful blindness to what was going on in his companies and publications. This culture, we consider, permeated from the top throughout the organisation and speaks volumes about the lack of effective corporate governance at News Corporation and News International. We conclude, therefore, that Rupert Murdoch is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company.”
The MPs however were not unanimous on this statement, with some backing his stewardship of the company, claiming that his awareness of the phone hacking was not proven.
MPs have also claimed that they were misled by some of those interviewed during the questioning process. The members have unanimously agreed that Colin Myler, then editor of the News of the World, was one such person.
The divide between MPs, with some being accused of already having made up their mind about News International and therefor having a bias opinion of the company, has meant that the ‘Credibility of the report is damaged', claimed Conservative MP Louise Mensch. "This is the result we have been left with and I feel that is a great shame," she added while being questioned about the report.