Rebekah Brooks' text to David Cameron: "We're definitely in this together"
Ex-News International
executive Rebekah Brooks told the PM "professionally we're definitely in
this together" after the Sun paper switched loyalty to his party, the
Leveson Inquiry heard.
Mrs Brooks sent the text to David Cameron on the eve of his speech to the 2009 Conservative Party conference.The prime minister also said ex-PM Gordon Brown's claims about a Tory deal with NI were "complete nonsense".
And he said his hiring of an ex-News of the World editor had haunted him.
Andy Coulson became Mr Cameron's communications chief after resigning from the paper.
Mr Cameron said Mr Brown's claim - that the Tories agreed to cut funding for the BBC and media regulator Ofcom in return for political support from News International - had been made because he was "very angry and disappointed" at the Sun's decision to switch support from Labour ahead of the 2010 general election.
Mr Cameron said the message from Mrs Brooks, dated October 2009 and submitted as part of his written evidence, was a reflection the Sun had the previous week decided to support the Conservatives.
The message was discussed during Mr Cameron's evidence about the relationship between MPs and the press.
Mrs Brooks said in the text: "I am so rooting for you tomorrow, not just as a proud friend but because professionally we're definitely in this together."
The text refers to how they should have a "country supper soon".
Despite the friendship, Mr Cameron said there had been "no overt deals", "no covert deals" and "no nods and winks" with the company.
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Media meetings
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Questioned about the Murdochs, Rebekah Brooks, Andy Coulson and Jeremy Hunt, he looked "tense, edgy, uncomfortable and again and again said he couldn't recall events"”
He said he did have some conversations
with editors in which he told them "we'd love a bit more support from
your paper", but "not very often".
Speaking about Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt's appointment to
handle the bid by News International's parent company News Corporation
to buy BSkyB, Mr Cameron said: "It was not some rushed, botched,
political decision. If anyone had told me Jeremy Hunt couldn't do the
job I wouldn't have given him the job."He said he "definitely asked the cabinet secretary's view and my memory is that he sought legal advice."
The idea of moving the responsibility of the BSkyB bid from Business Secretary Vince Cable to Mr Hunt was suggested by Cabinet Secretary Jeremy Heywood, Mr Cameron said. It followed a series of meetings with Mr Clegg and Downing Street staff.
The prime minister also said he did not recall Mr Hunt's memo on BSkyB, where the latter had voiced support for the bid, when he handed him control of investigating the bid.
The BSkyB bid was eventually abandoned in July 2011 amid outrage over the phone-hacking scandal.
Mr Cameron denied legal advice given by Treasury Solicitor Paul Jenkins on Mr Hunt's appointment was rushed - Mr Jenkins gave his advice over the telephone as he was on holiday when Mr Hunt was given authority over the BSkyB bid.
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David Cameron Prime MinisterHow we get [press and political relations] to a better place, I think part of it will be about transparency, better regulation, having a bit more distance, that will be part of respect”
The Conservatives have been accused of having a biased view in favour of the bid by News Corporation.
The prime minister's witness statement reveals he had 1,404
meetings with "media figures" - 26 a month on average - while in
opposition between 2005 and 2010. Once in government, that fell to an
average of about 13 a month.In 2008 he took a trip to the Greek island of Santorini for a dinner with News International boss Rupert Murdoch because it was a chance to "build a relationship" with him.
When asked by Robert Jay QC, counsel for the inquiry, how frequently he had seen Mrs Brooks between 2008 and 2009, Mr Cameron was not specific.
He said: "Not every weekend... um, in 2008/09, I'd have to check, I might be able to go back and check but I don't think every weekend, I don't think most weekends."
When he returned to give evidence in the afternoon however he said he had more details, after checking his wife Samantha's diary.
It suggested the couple were "in the constituency" 23 weekends in 2009 and 15 in 2010, meaning "we probably did not see [the Brooks] more than once every six weeks".
Lord Justice Leveson replied: "The great value of wives, prime minister."
Mrs Brooks and her husband Charlie - who went to school with Mr Cameron - have both been charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice in relation to the phone-hacking scandal surrounding News of the World. Both deny wrongdoing.
The prime minister told the inquiry he accepted hiring Mr Coulson was "a controversial appointment", but he had been given "assurances" at the time by Mr Coulson that he had no knowledge of phone hacking at the paper.
Charlie and Rebekah Brooks appeared in court on Wednesday
'Respect' Mr Cameron said the relationship between politicians and the media had deteriorated. "How we get it to a better place, I think part of it will be about transparency, better regulation, having a bit more distance, that will be part of respect."
The BBC's Nick Robinson said some of the key moments in Mr Cameron's testimony were when he asked about Mr Murdoch, Mrs Brooks and the Sun, saying his answers were often "terse" and that he looked "tense".
In other developments:
- The Metropolitan Police have announced that three people, including a former prison officer, had been arrested as part of a probe into alleged corrupt payments to public officials.
- The Crown Prosecution Service has announced that Guardian journalist David Leigh, who admitted hacking an arms company executive's phone, will not face charges.COPY : http://www.bbc.co.uk/
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