Cameron Denies News Corp. Collaboration

UK Prime Minister David Cameron said there was no agreement between him and Rupert Murdoch, or his son James Murdoch, to support News Corp.'s business interests in return for the media company's support of Cameron's Conservative Party.

"The idea there was some grand bargain between me and Rupert Murdoch -- that is not true," he said in an interview with BBC television, in which he also defended the government's austerity measures after economic data last week showed the U.K. slipped back into a recession in the previous two quarters. The government's links with media groups, in particular News Corp., have come under renewed scrutiny this week after the special adviser to the culture minister resigned over his close contacts with the Murdoch-run company during its efforts to take full control of pay-television operator British Sky Broadcasting Group last year. Opposition lawmakers have called for Jeremy Hunt, the minister for culture, media and sport, to also resign over the allegations he was too close to News Corp. while he handled the regulatory process over the BSkyB bid.