I am not responsible for scandal, Murdoch tells British lawmakers

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch says he is not ultimately responsible for the fiasco over the phone-hacking scandal which has plunged his News Corp business into crisis and raised questions over the role of the Metropolitan police in the incident. 

Reuters/Parbul TV via Reuters Tv

Murdoch was giving evidence on Monday with his son James, to a parliamentary committee over activities at the defunct News of the World, which has shaken the British establishment and put Prime Minister David Cameron under pressure.

Before giving evidence, James Cameron, apologised to victims of the scandal which include a teenage murder victim, families of dead soldiers and victims of terror attacks. His father said his appearance at the committee was “the most humble day of my life”.

Meanwhile, British police on Tuesday were investigating the unexplained death of whistleblower Sean Hoare, a former reporter at the News of the World who first implicated the prime minister’s ex-spokesman Andy Coulson in the scandal.

David Cameron has admitted the phone-hacking scandal is a big problem. He has cut short a visit to Africa to address an emergency session of parliament on Wednesday.

Earlier, a top British policeman who quit Monday after failing in 2009 to reopen the phone-hacking investigation told the parliamentary committee that "my conscience is clear".

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner John Yates has announced he was resigning amid criticism over his failure to revive the Scotland Yard probe into phone-hacking at the tabloid News of the World.

Yates repeated that he felt "great personal regret" that phone-hacking victims were not properly dealt with but denounced press attacks against him and insisted he had done nothing wrong.

"Sadly, there continues to be a huge amount of inaccurate, ill-informed and on occasion downright malicious gossip published about me personally," he said.

Former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks is due to testify to the committee later on Monday.