At the time of the Inquiry, Blott was Regional Managing Director of Herald and Times, which published The Herald, Sunday Herald and Evening Times papers in Scotland and was a division of the Newsquest Media Group. Blott told the Inquiry that he had been aware of a covert journalistic investigation into political lobbying where secret recording was undertaken. The recording, which was later destroyed, complied fully with Press Complaints Commission guidelines, he told the Inquiry.
