Wednesday, April 25, 2012

#Leveson :Cameron took free flights to Greece to meet Rupert Murdoch on luxury yacht

 

By Kirsty Walker


The Tories have insisted that David Cameron did 'nothing wrong' by accepting free flights so he could meet media tycoon Rupert Murdoch.
Mr Cameron was flown on August 16 by private jet to the Greek island of Santorini, where he joined Mr Murdoch for drinks on his 184ft yacht Rosehearty.
The flights have all been properly declared to Parliamentary authorities and a source dismissed stories about the matter as a 'desperate attempt to make something out of nothing'.
Conservative party leader David Cameron
News Corp Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch
Properly declared: David Cameron accepted free flights to meet with media tycoon Rupert Murdoch (right) on his yacht off a Greek island
All political leaders regularly meet media proprietors and editors. Tony Blair and Gordon Brown frequently see Mr Murdoch, who owns News International and BSkyB.
The Gulfstream IV aircraft on which Mr Cameron flew belongs to public relations guru Matthew Freud, who is married to Mr Murdoch's daughter Elisabeth.

 


Mr Cameron's wife Samantha and two of their children were with Mr Freud's party on his jet when it left Farnborough for the Mediterranean last summer.
The aircraft stopped in Istanbul to pick up the Tory leader - who was returning from a lightning visit to Georgia following the Russian military incursion - before flying on to Santorini.
David Cameron and wife Samantha
Holiday-maker: Mr Cameron has sought to present a down-to-earth image when he was photographed with his wife Samantha on a beach in Cornwall

Following drinks on the Rosehearty, Mr Cameron and his family attended a dinner party hosted by Mr Freud on his yacht, Elisabeth F.
Elisabeth and Matthew Freud
Private party: David Cameron, his wife Samantha and two of their children flew on a jet owned by Matthew Freud who is married to Murdoch's daughter Elisabeth (above)
Afterwards the Camerons were flown on the Gulfstream to Dalaman in Turkey where they joined Mrs Cameron's family for a sailing holiday to mark the 60th birthday of her mother, Viscountess Astor.
The Tories insisted that the flights had been fully declared in the Register of Members' Interests.
A spokesman for Mr Cameron said: 'Everything in connection to August 16 has been fully declared.'
However, any mention of senior Tories, rich people and boats has the potential to cause embarrassment in the wake of controversy surrounding George Osborne's visit to the Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska on his yacht off Corfu.
It also contrasts with the rather more down-to-earth image Mr Cameron sought to present when he was photographed with his wife on a beach in Cornwall during the first leg of his holiday.
Mr Cameron's latest entry in the Register of Members' Interests declares: '16 August 2008, private plane from Farnborough to Istanbul for my wife and two children.
'Then from Istanbul to Santorini, and return to Dalaman, for myself, my wife and two children; provided by Matthew Freud, of London.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1080179/Cameron-took-free-flights-Greece-meet-Rupert-Murdoch-luxury-yacht.html#ixzz1t3gi4J7B