YESTERDAY'S HIGHLIGHTS (24 May)

- David Cameron appointed Jeremy Hunt to take the semi-judicial decision on the BSkyB bid despite knowing he was strongly in favour of Rupert Murdoch's attempt to own all of the UK's richest TV network.

- In November 2010, Hunt wrote to Cameron to warn him that media sector would suffer if the bid was not approved.

- In the memo, the Culture Secretary - handed control of the bid a month later - wrote:

"In the end I am sure sensible controls can be put into any merger to ensure there is plurality but I think it would be totally wrong to cave into the Mark Thompson/Channel 4/Guardian line that this represents a substantial change of control given that we all know Sky is controlled by News Corp now anyway."

- In the memo, Hunt said that James Murdoch wanted to emulate his father's triumph at Wapping by creating world's first paper-web-TV etc media platform.

- News International's newspapers would have become even more dominant because of the deal, yet, despite the growing number of criminal inquiries, Hunt was prepared to wave the bid through... until the disclosure that the News of the World had hacked the phone of a missing schoolgirl.

Robert Jay QC is now pushing Smith on the question of whether or not Hunt expressed concern that he was not allowed to lobby Vince Cable on behalf of News Corp's argument.

I agree with The Guardian's Dan Sabbagh here. He tweeted earlier this morning: "Hard not to have sympathy with Smith. He was an authorised back channel to a info-hungry company his minister was eager to please."

Indeed. Adam Smith is a clearly very competent special adviser who was appointed to a particularly ambitious minister and used as a human shield by him, at a time when he was seeking to gain favour from the Murdoch empire. I know a few advisers across Whitehall who are considering themselves very lucky this morning. Some of them might easily have ended up giving evidence to the Inquiry right now - and having more to worry about that Smith does now.

Adam Smith has just admitted that the Culture Department was briefing News Corp on the discussions between Jeremy Hunt and Ofcom about the BSkyB bid. Mr Hunt made "four substantial points" to Ofcom boss Ed Richards in a meeting with him on 10 January 2011. Essentially, Mr Hunt - who was supposed to be an impartial judge - was giving News Corp the inside track on discussions within government and regulators about its bid.

Smith was appointed to his position as probably the most senior adviser to a senior Cabinet Minister because of his skill and competence. After responsibility for the bid fell to Hunt, his importance in government grew. Now he has lost his job and is being forced to defend Hunt's ambition in a very public domain. He acted improperly, certainly; but this is tough on, as well as for, him.

Leveson has interrupted to contradict Smith's assertion that there would be no "heat" on Hunt after the publication of the Ofcom report.

Mr Smith seems to be quite blasé: civil servants knew about his conversations with News Corp; his boss Jeremy Hunt made no secret that he was briefing News Corp; yes, he probably said the things that News Corp lobbyist Fred Michel so excitedly summarised in emails to James Murdoch.

Does Mr Smith think he has done nothing wrong? If so, why did he resign?

One possible explanation for his somewhat flat performance is that he knows - and Mr Hunt knows - that the Culture Secretary knew exactly what he was doing and that he can't really be bothered to mount a stout defence of his behaviour: in his heart, he knew he was just doing what his boss, a Cabinet minister, expected of him.

Leveson wants to pin Smith down on whose views the email actually represents. His? Hunt's? Or nobody's at all? Smith is going for the latter.

Smith is portraying Michel as a bit of an irritating text-pest. Smith's responses, he says, were just an attempt to get Michel to "shut-up", not an insight into departmental thinking.

Mr Smith suggesting he was sending overly helpful/friendly messages to News Corp lobbyist, Fred Michel, because Michel was bugging him (not actually bugging him, of course).

Asked why he told Michel in a text message that Mr Hunt's statement to Parliament could not be too warm about News Corp (to allow Cabinet Minister "legal wriggle-room" against opponents of the bid) Mr Smith said: "This another example of me to get him [Michel] off my back."

PA: Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt will give evidence to Leveson on Thursday next week.

LEVESON INQUIRY next week.

MON: Tony Blair;

TUES Theresa May;

WEDS: Vince Cable;

THURS: Jeremy Hunt.

Tony Blair likely to be asked about close relationship with Rupert Murdoch - and whether he granted him any favours in Government. Topics will include Blair's visit to Hayman Island in 1995, when - according to former advisor Lance Price - the Labour leader agreed an outline understanding with Murdoch that Murdoch would give New Labour a fair ride, if New Labour was good for Murdoch's business.

Vince Cable will be asked about 'declaring war' on Murdoch, and whether News Corp threatened him and other senior LibDems if they blocked the takeover of BSkyB, as reported last year.

But the biggest day, of course, will be Jeremy Hunt on Thursday. We now know that Mr Hunt's department and News Corp exchanged more than 1,000 text messages over BSkyB; the department gave the UK's biggest media company the inside track on what was happening to consideration within government and regulators of the £8bn deal. Mt Hunt, still clinging to his job, insists he did nothing wrong and will clear his name.

PA: Prime Minister David Cameron told ITV's This Morning "I don't regret'' giving Jeremy Hunt the role in deciding on News Corporation's takeover of BSkyB and said the Culture Secretary had acted "impartially''.