LONDON (Reuters) ? British legislators will write to News International chairman James Murdoch to press him further on claims that his company snooped on them when they were pursuing allegations of phone hacking, a senior parliamentarian told Reuters on Wednesday.
James Murdoch, son of News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch, appeared before a parliamentary committee for a second time last week to testify about phone hacking at the company's now-defunct News of the World tabloid newspaper.
Murdoch apologized when asked about reports that the company had placed committee members including Tom Watson, one of its most vocal critics, under surveillance.
However, Culture, Media and Sports committee chairman John Whittingdale said he wanted more information.
"The committee takes very seriously allegations that members were under surveillance by reporters in the course of our inquiries. Obviously this is something we want answers to," he added.
"We will be writing to James Murdoch as head of News International to confirm or deny," he told Reuters, adding that letters would be going out to other executives involved.
The phone-hacking scandal has raised doubts among shareholders about whether James Murdoch is the right candidate to succeed his father as head of the News Corp global media empire.
Murdoch junior is the chairman of News International, the company's British newspaper arm, and also chairs the pay-TV operator BSkyB, in which News Corp is the biggest shareholder.
Committee member Louise Mensch asked Murdoch last week about reports of snooping on MPs by private investigators.
"I am aware of the case of the surveillance of Mr Watson; again, under the circumstances, I apologize unreservedly for that," Murdoch told the parliamentary committee.
"It is not something that I would condone, it is not something that I had knowledge of and it is not something that has a place in the way we operate," he added.
The hacking scandal has shaken the British establishment, raising questions about the way the media operate and their relations with the police.
An inquiry set up by Prime Minister David Cameron began this week following a public outcry after it emerged that the News of the World had hacked the phones of murder victims, as well as large numbers of celebrities.
(Reporting by Keith Weir; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
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