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Prime minister says never ‘had one inappropriate conversation’ in relation to Rupert Murdoch’s BSkyB bid The prime minister has refused to deny that he discussed the BSkyB bid with senior executives at News International since the election. Pressed on the issue following a Commons statement on the phone hacking scandal, David Cameron would only say: “I have never had one inappropriate conversation.” The prime minister added his cabinet secretary had ruled “very clearly” that no ministerial code was broken in relation to the BSkyB merger and meetings with News International executives. “The cabinet secretary has ruled very clearly that the code was not broken – not least because I had asked to be entirely excluded from the decision,” he told MPs. He said he had taken himself out of any consideration of the BSkyB bid and, “unlike Labour”, he had set out all his contacts with News International in the interest of transparency. Cameron also expressed regret at hiring Andy Coulson as his director of communications in light of the “furore” that has ensued in the phone hacking scandal. In a statement to update MPs on action taken in light of the slew of allegations that have surfaced in the last week, the prime minister said he would tackle the questions raised about allegations relating to his office. He vowed to “clear up the mess” and urged MPs to avoid “petty political point scoring” and focus on “concerted action” to sort things out. Cameron was under pressure to explain a number of decisions emerging from Downing Street that have surfaced over the last few days. He defended the decision of his chief of staff, Ed Llewellyn, to refuse a police briefing on the investigation as “entirely appropriate”, and insisted he learnt only three days ago that Neil Wallis, the former deputy editor of News of the World, had advised Coulson before the general election. In his most contrite comments to date over the controversial decision to take the former editor of the News of the World with him to Downing Street, Cameron told MPs that if it turned out Coulson had lied to him about whether he knew about phone hacking at the now defunct tabloid, he would not hesitate in issuing a “profound apology”. While he believed everyone to be innocent until proven guilty, he added that if Coulson – who quit Downing Street in January – had lied, he would have lied not just to him, but the police, select committees, the press watchdog and the courts, and could expect to face “severe criminal charges”. He added: “On the decision to hire him, I believe I have answered every question about this.It was my decision. I take responsibility. People will, of course, make judgments about it. “Of course I regret [it] and I am extremely sorry about the furore it has caused. “With 20:20 hindsight – and all that has followed – I would not have offered him the job and I expect that he wouldn’t have taken it. “But you don’t make decisions in hindsight; you make them in the present. You live and you learn – and believe you me, I have learnt.” He said the Conservative party chairman had gone through the accounts and confirmed that neither Wallis nor his company had “ever been employed by or contracted by the Conservative party – nor has the Conservative party made payments to either of them”. On claims that Wallis provided Coulson with some informal advice on a voluntary basis before the election, Cameron said: “To the best of my knowledge I didn’t know anything about this until Sunday night.” He later added that he did not know Wallis had been contracted to work for Scotland Yard. The prime minister also rallied to the defence of Llewellyn over claims made yesterday by outgoing senior Scotland Yard officer John Yates that he had turned down an offer to be briefed on the police investigation. He said there would have been “justified outrage” if he had done anything else. “Ed Llewellyn’s reply to the police made clear that it would be not be appropriate to give me or my staff any privileged briefing,” said Cameron. “The reply that he sent was cleared in advance by my permanent secretary, Jeremy Heywood. “If they had done the opposite and asked for, or acquiesced in receiving privileged information – even if there was no intention to use it – there would have been quite justified outrage. To risk any perception that No 10 was seeking to influence a sensitive police investigation in any way would have been completely wrong.” Cameron also named the panel of independent experts who will help Lord Justice Leveson examine media practices in the wake of the phone hacking scandal. They include Shami Chakrabarti, the director of human rights group Liberty; former Daily Telegraph and Press Association journalist George Jones; former political editor for Channel 4 News Elinor Goodman; former chairman of the Financial Times Sir David Bell; Lord David Currie, former chairman of Ofcom; and former chief constable of West Midlands police Sir Paul Scott-Lee. The inquiry will look at the phone hacking scandal specifically but also at broader issues involving politics, the media and the police,and is expected to report within 12 months, said Cameron. “This public inquiry is as robust as possible,” the prime minister said. “It is fully independent.Lord Justice Leveson will be able to summon witnesses under oath.” David Cameron Phone hacking News International Newspapers & magazines National newspapers Newspapers BSkyB Television industry Conservatives Hélène Mulholland guardian.co.uk