British Prime Minister David Cameron was grilled Thursday by an inquiry he himself set up in response to phone hacking at the News of the World, the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid that shut down over illegal eavesdropping.
Cameron said relations between politicians and the media were "too close and unhealthy" but argued that a free press was important in holding the country's leaders accountable.
He rejected as nonsense the idea that his contacts with newspaper editors and proprietors meant he had made promises about policies in return for their support.