Hunt under more pressure to quit

With three days to his appearance at the Leveson Inquiry, fresh pressure was piling on Jeremy Hunt over his links with News Corp. The Culture Secretary, pictured, was urged to quit by one of his Tory predecessors, while Nick Clegg delivered a warning about politicians ending up "in the pockets of media moguls".

One option being touted in Whitehall is for Mr Hunt, pictured, to stand down in August after the Olympics have ended. But increasing numbers of senior Tories doubt whether he can cling on that long. Mr Hunt will be challenged on Thursday over the disclosure he was in regular contact with the News Corp lobbyist Fréd Michel while considering the company's BSkyB bid.

David Mellor, who was National Heritage Secretary in John Major's government, said: "Jeremy Hunt will probably have to go." Asked on BBC1's The Andrew Marr Show about the links between Mr Hunt and News Corp, Mr Clegg replied: "When vested interests are able to twist politicians around their little fingers, things go wrong."