London: News Corp executive James Murdoch could face a police investigation into claims he gave "mistaken" testimony to Britain's parliament this week, deepening the legal crisis that has engulfed the Murdoch family's media empire.
Prime Minister David Cameron, criticised for his close ties to senior figures at News Corp, said that Murdoch had "clearly got questions to answer in parliament."
Police received a letter on Friday from opposition legislator Tom Watson asking whether Murdoch was involved in illegal efforts to cover up phone hacking.
Detectives investigating a hacking scandal centred on the Murdochs' now defunct News of the World tabloid were considering the letter, they said.
Keeping up the pressure, another Labour member of parliament (MP) wrote to non-executive directors of News Corp calling on them to suspend James and company chief executive Rupert Murdoch over the scandal.
James Murdoch, chairman of News Corp's British arm, and his 80-year-old father appeared before parliament's media committee on Tuesday to answer questions on phone-hacking.
The company had long maintained that the illegal practice was the work of a lone "rogue reporter". However, two former senior figures at its British newspaper arm have disputed James Murdoch's claim that he was unaware of an e-mail that suggested as early as 2008 that wrongdoing was more widespread.
"I think this is the most significant moment of two years of investigation into phone hacking," Watson, a Labour lawmaker, told BBC TV on Friday.
"If their statement is accurate, it shows that James Murdoch had knowledge that others were involved in hacking as early as 2008, that he failed to act to discipline staff or initiate some internal investigation," added Watson, part of the media committee who has long campaigned to expose wrongdoing at the newspaper.
"If their version of events is accurate, it doesn't just mean that parliament has been misled, it means the police have another investigation on their hands," Watson added.
In a letter to committee chairman John Whittingdale on Friday, James Murdoch said he had answered questions in parliament truthfully.
"I stand by my testimony," he said, adding that he was preparing a written response to questions raised during his appearance.
Cameron seeks clarity
Prime Minister Cameron tried to distance himself from the company after his image was tarnished by his decision to hire a former News of the World editor as his communications chief.
"Clearly James Murdoch has got questions to answer in parliament and I am sure that he will do that," he told reporters, "and clearly News International has got some big issues to deal with and a mess to clear up."
"That has to be done by the management of that company. In the end the management of a company must be an issue for the shareholders of that company."
Ex-News of the World editor Colin Myler and Tom Crone, who was the newspaper group's top legal officer, accused James Murdoch of giving "mistaken" testimony.
Watson said the dispute between senior figures past and present in News Corp marked a turning point in efforts to get to the bottom of a scandal dating backing to 2005.
"I think we're getting near to the core of this now, we're getting nearer the truth," Watson said.
"People are beginning to speak out. The company effectively closed ranks three years ago," he added.
"Now that News of the World is gone, now that the world's media hold this company in the spotlight, I think individuals are beginning to speak out and we will get the full picture."
News Corp long maintained that listening in to voicemails to get stories was the work of a single reporter after their royal editor was jailed in 2007.
A series of legal actions by celebrities who claimed their mobiles had been hacked undermined that defence and raised questions about how far up the company responsibility went.
The floodgates opened two weeks ago when a lawyer for a murdered schoolgirl alleged that her telephone had been hacked while she was missing and messages deleted, giving her parents false hope she was still alive.
Facing public outrage and opposition from long compliant politicians, News Corp closed the News of the World newspaper after 168 years and dropped a $12 billion bid to buy full control of pay TV broadcaster BSkyB.
In a scandal shaking the British establishment, London's police chief and its head of anti-terrorism resigned over their cosy links to a former News of the World deputy editor.
The disputed testimony from Tuesday's dramatic televised session hinges on what James Murdoch knew about a 700,000 pound payment to soccer players' union boss Gordon Taylor to settle a legal claim that his phone had been hacked.
"What Myler's statement shows, if it's true, (is) that James Murdoch knowingly bought the silence of Taylor thereby covering up a crime," Watson said.
"Now in the UK that is called conspiring to pervert the course of justice and it's a very serious matter."
His Labour colleague Chris Bryant said News Corp had failed to exercise proper corporate control.
"I would therefore urge you to suspend both Rupert and James Murdoch from their responsibilities within the organisation," Bryant wrote in a letter to directors who include former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar and Rod Eddington, who once headed British Airways.
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