Cameron faces Murdoch storm at UK media probe

British Prime Minister David Cameron, under fire for courting an exclusive media clique led by Rupert Murdoch, appeared before a judicial inquiry on Thursday to try and neuter claims his ministers tailored policy to further Murdoch's interests.

Cameron's once cosy ties with Murdoch's inner circle mean he is under pressure to pull off a virtuoso performance at the inquiry, which has sharpened the perception that Britain has been run for years by an elite that fawned on the News Corp chairman.

The coalition government has divided along party lines over Cameron's backing for a minister accused of doing Murdoch's bidding when responsible for impartial oversight, as he struggles with an economy in recession and growing unease about his leadership within his own party.

Cameron, 45, who set up the Leveson inquiry into media ethics himself last year after a newspaper phone-hacking scandal erupted, is due to be questioned for at least five hours, streamed live on television.

It (the cross-examination at the inquiry) could add to the impression the public may have of his being out of touch and more obsessed with hobnobbing with wealthy, powerful people, said Charlie Beckett, founding director of the Polis thinktank at the London School of Economics.

If (the inquiry) gives the impression of somebody who is careless, I suspect that will come as ammunition for those in his own party who are uncomfortable with his leadership style, he added.

Cameron used to sign his frequent text messages to News Corp executive Rebekah Brooks with an affectionate LOL and employed another Murdoch editor, Andy Coulson, as his trusted spokesman.

Cameron ordered the inquiry after the News of the World, the Sunday tabloid newspaper both Brooks and Coulson had once edited, was found to have hacked into the voicemail of, among others, a murdered schoolgirl to get stories.

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