Cameron Dodges Question on E-Mails With News Corp. Executives

U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron refused to say if he will submit private e-mails between him and News Corp. (NWSA) executives to the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics.

Cameron was challenged today by opposition Labour lawmaker Chris Bryant, whose phone was hacked by the now-defunct News of the World newspaper, to explain why he was withholding the e- mails and text messages from the inquiry.

“I’m not going to answer any of his questions” until Bryant apologizes about previous allegations he’s made, Cameron told lawmakers in the House of Commons in London today.

Private e-mails exchanged with former News International Chief Executive Officer Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, when he was still editor of the News of the World, were withheld from the Leveson Inquiry after Cameron sought legal advice, the Independent newspaper reported yesterday without saying where it got the information.

“All the material that the inquiry asked for was provided,” Cameron’s spokeswoman, Vickie Sheriff, told reporters yesterday. “We’ve cooperated fully with the inquiry and we look forward to its report.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Penny in London at tpenny@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net