Cameron commiserated after I quit London tabloid: Brooks
Source: Agencies |
May 12, 2012, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
FORMER News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks - a pivotal figure in Britain's tabloid phone hacking saga - said yesterday that Prime Minister David Cameron commiserated with her after she quit in the wake of the scandal.
Brooks, 43, who resigned in July as chief executive of News International, Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper operation, told the country's media ethics inquiry of her close ties to those in power. Known for her flowing red hair and meteoric rise from junior employee to editor at News of the World, Brooks acknowledged she had messages of support from politicians, including Cameron and former prime minister Tony Blair, when she stepped down.
In evidence offered so far in yesterday's London hearing, Brooks has been questioned on the close ties between British politicians and the press, chiefly Murdoch's media empire.
Brooks said Cameron is a personal friend and neighbor in the picturesque Cotswolds area of southern England - and acknowledged she even had to offer him advice on text messaging. After she stepped down amid the phone hacking scandal, Brooks said she had received "indirect messages" of support - text messages sent by the aides of politicians, but relaying their personal thoughts - including from Cameron.
"I received some indirect messages from No. 10, No. 11, the Home Office and Foreign Office," Brooks said, referring to Cameron, Treasury chief George Osborne and other leading Cabinet members.
She agreed with inquiry lawyer Robert Jay that a message from Cameron had told her to "keep your head up" and expressed regret that he could not be more loyal because of the political pressure he was under over the hacking scandal.
Brooks said she and Cameron would trade texts at least once a week.
Conversations had taken place after the revelations that the News of the World had hacked murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler's phone when she disappeared in 2002.
Public revulsion at the tactics deployed to pursue the schoolgirl led Murdoch to shut down the 168-year-old News of the World last July, and saw Cameron set up the ethics inquiry, led by Lord Justice Brian Leveson.
Brooks, 43, who resigned in July as chief executive of News International, Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper operation, told the country's media ethics inquiry of her close ties to those in power. Known for her flowing red hair and meteoric rise from junior employee to editor at News of the World, Brooks acknowledged she had messages of support from politicians, including Cameron and former prime minister Tony Blair, when she stepped down.
In evidence offered so far in yesterday's London hearing, Brooks has been questioned on the close ties between British politicians and the press, chiefly Murdoch's media empire.
Brooks said Cameron is a personal friend and neighbor in the picturesque Cotswolds area of southern England - and acknowledged she even had to offer him advice on text messaging. After she stepped down amid the phone hacking scandal, Brooks said she had received "indirect messages" of support - text messages sent by the aides of politicians, but relaying their personal thoughts - including from Cameron.
"I received some indirect messages from No. 10, No. 11, the Home Office and Foreign Office," Brooks said, referring to Cameron, Treasury chief George Osborne and other leading Cabinet members.
She agreed with inquiry lawyer Robert Jay that a message from Cameron had told her to "keep your head up" and expressed regret that he could not be more loyal because of the political pressure he was under over the hacking scandal.
Brooks said she and Cameron would trade texts at least once a week.
Conversations had taken place after the revelations that the News of the World had hacked murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler's phone when she disappeared in 2002.
Public revulsion at the tactics deployed to pursue the schoolgirl led Murdoch to shut down the 168-year-old News of the World last July, and saw Cameron set up the ethics inquiry, led by Lord Justice Brian Leveson.
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