Jeremy Hunt Back In Spotlight Over BSkyB Role

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt is under renewed pressure after claims he sought "private advice" from News Corporation over phone hacking at the News Of The World.

The fresh claims are contained in a previously unseen email, sent to the former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks by a News Corp PR executive.

The email was revealed in evidence as Mrs Brooks testified before the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics.

It was sent to her on June 27, 2011, as the controversy over phone hacking was beginning to build and at a time when News Corporation was bidding to take over full control of BSkyB.

The email, written by the company's PR executive Fred Michel, is one of a number he wrote as he acted as a liaison between Rupert Murdoch's company at the Culture Secretary's department.

It stated: "Hunt will be making references to phone hacking in his statement on Rubicon (BSkyB bid) this week. He will be repeating the same narrative as the one he gave in Parliament few weeks ago."

The email goes on to say: "JH (Jeremy Hunt) is now starting to looking to phone hacking/practices more thoroughly and has asked me to advise him privately in the coming weeks and guide his and No 10's positioning..."

The inquiry has heard previously that Mr Michel would often refer in his emails to contact with Mr Hunt, but in reality it was more likely to have been his special adviser Adam Smith he was in direct communication with.

Mr Smith has since resigned, admitting he had at times gone too far in the contact he had with Mr Michel.

However, Prime Minister David Cameron continues to face calls to order an investigation into his Culture Secretary's conduct, amid claims he may have breached the Ministerial Code.

Those calls will only intensify in light of the latest email revelations.

A spokesman for the Culture Department said: "Jeremy Hunt will respond to this when he gives his evidence to the Leveson Inquiry in due course.

"He is confident that his evidence will vindicate the position that he has behaved with integrity on every issue.

"It has already been made clear that when Fred Michel has claimed in emails to be speaking to Jeremy Hunt that was not the case."