[devilincarnate]

HMMMMMMMMMMMM?

George Osborne has said he asked ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson about phone hacking before hiring him as Conservative communications chief.

The chancellor said he knew the appointment would be controversial, but he was reassured the scandal was over.

He told the Leveson Inquiry because there had been a criminal court case, he assumed there was "nothing else".

Mr Coulson resigned in January 2007 after the conviction of the paper's royal editor for hacking.

At the time he said coverage of the News of the World (NoW) phone hacking scandal had "made it difficult to give the 110% needed in this role".

Mr Osborne told the inquiry: "I was aware and we'd discussed it beforehand internally that hiring him would attract some controversy...

"It's also worth noting that the Press Complaints Commission, subsequently before we had appointed him said there was no evidence...

"I guess I also had assumed that because there had been a criminal court case... that there was nothing else. But I asked him."

Earlier, Mr Osborne told the inquiry he did not know what Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt or PM David Cameron's views were on News Corp's £8bn bid for BSkyB.

He said there had been no specific conversations with Mr Hunt and he did not have strong views about it.

What about the texts?


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18398951