View Full Version : Behind Rupert's throne: The story of Rebekah Brooks (Interrogated)
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/behind-ruperts-throne-the-story-of-rebekah-brooks-2307512.html
Rupert Murdoch has four daughters, but sometimes it has seemed like there are five. The one who has loomed largest in his life for some years is not a Murdoch by birth, but a tough social climber from Cheshire who is easily recognisable by her long flame-red hair, and who has now fallen victim to one of the biggest media scandals inhistory.
Rebekah Brooks managed to stay close to the media mogul, once described as the Sun King by the journalist Andrew Neil, for a very long time without getting burned. Other products of the Murdoch stable have their day and are then discarded. But until last night, not even the shocking revelations sending tremors through News International had been able to drive a wedge between the proprietor and his favourite executive.
Given the closeness of their working relationship, it was taken for granted that Murdoch approved the message Brooks sent to News International staff yesterday morning, pleading: "I hope that you all realise it is inconceivable that I knew or, worse, sanctioned these appalling allegations."
Its emotive tone, with its seasoning of words like "appalling" and "sickened", looked grim indeed for any News International employee whose fingerprints were found at the scene of that phone-hacking episode when Milly Dowler went missing eight years ago.
But the email also had another clear message. Other people might pay with their jobs when something like this happens – but not Rebekah Brooks, despite the fact that the perpetrators of this "sickening" act were working for her, albeit indirectly. Until the torrent of scandal overwhelmed News International's east London headquarters last night, she was thought to be safe, simply because it would hurt Rupert Murdoch too badly to lose her.
But not as badly as it will have hurt Rebekah Brooks to lose her job. Others, like the journalists Andrew Neil or Piers Morgan, can fall out with Murdoch and bounce back somewhere else. But for Mrs Brooks, there is no visible life after Murdoch. She might find it very hard indeed to readjust now she has been torn away from the organisation which has nurtured her through much of her adult life. She and Murdoch talked every day. She was not required to answer to anybody whose name was not Murdoch. When the old man entered a crowded room, Brooks would be immediately at his side as his introducer and protector.
She was on a par with Matthew Freud, the PR kingpin married to Murdoch's daughter Elisabeth, and one of the greatest networkers alive. Her façade may have been steely, but she was also known to make small acts of genuine kindness for which those on the receiving end would remain grateful.
She became accustomed to the high life from being in Murdoch's orbit. Last Friday, she was in the royal box at Wimbledon, watching the semi-final between Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. During this year's Glastonbury Festival, she descended, like the footballer Wayne Rooney and his wife, Coleen, in her personal helicopter, and was seen drinking champagne from a glass while those around her had to make do with plastic cups.
Other women have thoughtful employers and indulgent fathers, but who else but Murdoch would give his favourite daughter manquée a painting by LS Lowry for a 40th-birthday present? The actor Hugh Grant's secretly recorded conversation with a former News of the World reporter elicited another titbit about her whirlwind life: she goes horseback riding with David Cameron.
Though she lives in material opulence, Brooks was not born into a life of entitlement. After a state-school education, she studied at the Sorbonne, in Paris, then, at the age of 20, she turned up at the Warrington offices of a newly launched newspaper called The Post, to work as a newsdesk secretary. The paper folded in a matter of weeks, after which she talked her way into a similar job at News International in Wapping.
More than 10 years later, at the age of 32 in 2000, she emerged into the public eye as Britain's youngest national newspaper editor and the scourge of paedophiles. In the wake of the murder of eight-year-old Sarah Payne, she threw the resources of the News of the World behind a campaign for "Sarah's Law", which would give people to right to know if a paedophile is living in their vicinity.
The paper "named and shamed" several paedophiles, despite warnings that this could incite vigilante action. "I want to encourage the public to be vigilant, not vigilante," she said in defence of the campaign.
Obviously, she wished people to believe that she and her newspaper were motivated by a wish to allay parents' anxieties about their children's safety rather than to create a sensation that would drive up sales, an idea that seems absurd now that it has been revealed how little the News of the World cared about the feelings of the Dowler family when 13-year-old Milly went missing. But at the time, the campaign was popular with the newspaper's readers and did her career no harm. In 2003, she moved up to become the first female editor of The Sun, to be succeeded in her old job by her loyal acolyte, Andy Coulson, who later became Cameron's chief spin doctor.
Though Brooks excelled in personal relations on a one-to-on level, she learned early on that making public appearances, which required her to think quickly on her feet, was not her strong suit. Giving evidence to the Commons Culture Select Committee in March 2003, she casually admitted: "We have paid the police for information in the past."
Those words returned to haunt her years later, as the suspicion spread that Scotland Yard had shown a distinct lack of enthusiasm for investigating the phone-hacking scandal because too many of its officers had taken the News International shilling.
She weathered one notable embarrassment during her time at The Sun, when she was arrested in November 2005 for apparently assaulting her then husband, the on-screen tough guy Ross Kemp, whom she had married in 2002.
She had been out the night before having dinner with the Labour politician David Blunkett, commiserating with him over a story in The Independent on Sunday which had forced him to resign from the Cabinet for the second and final time. When she returned home, to Battersea, something went seriously wrong – but we have only unreliable rumours about what exactly it was. Police arrived around 4am, after two 999 calls, to find a sorry-looking Kemp. They arrested Brooks and held her for eight hours. No charges resulted.
The fracas coincided with one of Murdoch's visits to London. He was to be seen in Wapping that morning, demanding to know why his favourite editor was not at her desk. Coulson went to her rescue and when she finally arrived in Wapping, Murdoch treated the whole incident as a joke. The following day's edition of The Sun ran a headline saying "EastEnders hardman beaten by lover" – but that referred to the actor who played the brother of Kemp's on-screen character, who had come off worse in an argument with his ex-girlfriend. Though Kemp was sporting a thick lip, his wife denied inflicting it.
Still, it came as no great surprise when they obtained a "quickie" divorce in 2009. By then, she had been introduced to Charlie Brooks, an old Etonian former amateur jockey and trainer and former proprietor of a sex-toy mail-order company. It has been said that they complemented each other perfectly because he has the confidence to make gentle fun of her, saving her from the corporate disease of taking herself too seriously, and because each knows half of the people in the world that anyone ambitious needs to know – so between them they cover the field. Cameron, Gordon Brown, and most of the Murdoch clan were among the rich and famous guests at the couple's wedding two years ago.
They were written up in a memorable article in Vanity Fair shortly before the marriage, which is such a classic of the genre that it is hard to avoid a suspicion that it is a parody. It opened with the words: "When Charlie Brooks wakes up in the mornings in his barn in Oxfordshire, he likes nothing better than to fly to Venice from Oxford airport with his soon-to-be wife Rebekah Wade, the dazzling redhead editor of The Sun, for lunch at Harry's Bar. Later in the day, after shopping and sightseeing, the couple fly back to London for dinner at Wiltons in Jermyn Street."
The article went on to name other members of the "Oxfordshire set" who pop in and out of the Brooks' home in Chipping Norton, including Jeremy Clarkson, in whose house the couple first met, Emily Oppenheimer Turner, who sometimes lends them the family home in St Tropez, the Carphone Warehouse boss Charles Dunstone, the Blur bassist Alex James and many more.
In September 2009, after six years of editing The Sun, Brooks stepped up to the post of Chief Executive of News International, at the same time that James Murdoch took over as chairman. This put her on par with Sly Bailey, of Trinity Mirror, as the most powerful woman in the British media.
Yet as she settled into her new job, the phone-hacking scandal started to rumble. News International had thought it was over in 2007, when the News of the World royal correspondent Clive Goodman and the private investigator Glenn Mulcaire went to jail, Coulson resigned his editorship and the company convinced the Press Complaints Commission that it had all been an aberration involving one rogue reporter. As that story started to look threadbare, Coulson was compelled to fall on his sword for a second time, leaving Downing St in January this year.
In March, James Murdoch was called to New York to work alongside his father, in what looked like a News International equivalent of taking the last helicopter out of Saigon. Brooks was left behind in the besieged Wapping Fortress to deal with the scandal.
Yesterday, in the face of calls for her to consider her position – from the Dowlers' lawyer, the Labour leader Ed Miliband, politicians and the public – Murdoch's "fifth daughter" seemed determined to cling on. But even the Sun King couldn't save her.
Will being hand-in-glove with the country's "fascisti" and "mafia" heep Brooks safe ?
:puzzled:
Patrick
06-07-2011, 11:03 AM
I will buy a round of drinks for whoever reads that.
I will buy a round of drinks for whoever reads that.
It does require a certain amount of application on behalf of the reader ..... :laugh2:
arista
06-07-2011, 11:08 AM
Yes its on the News
I am bored with it , though.
Its never ending.
Why did New Labour not sort it out years ago
And the Ginger Leader
on King Ruperts company
can stand down.
Why did New Labour not sort it out years ago.
Wade/Brooks was at one time considered to be a friend of Tony and Cherie Blair ..... ;)
arista
06-07-2011, 11:19 AM
Wade/Brooks was at one time considered to be a friend of Tony and Cherie Blair ..... ;)
Yes
Stinking New Labour
Yes
Stinking New Labour
..... and Gordon Brown was among the rich and famous guests at her wedding two years ago ..... ;)
joeysteele
06-07-2011, 11:38 AM
Very interesting read that. She should certainly pay with her job in my opinion,I can't believe the audacity of the woman to think she has a right to support to and to stay in her lucrative post.
Better still wind the whole paper up anyway.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14046879
Nick Robinson claimed that News International now know who "sanctioned and commissioned" the hacking of Milly Dowler's mobile phone.
The BBC political editor said the firm was not naming names, but claimed it was unlikely to be chief executive Rebekah Brooks.
Surprise, surprise ..... :rolleyes:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13117456
Rebekah Brooks is said to enjoy riding in the Oxfordshire countryside with David Cameron, and she invited the prime minister to her Christmas party.
I'll bet he kissed her ***, just like a puppy dog, eager to please ..... :wink:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14042764
1355:
Some laughter as Chris Bryant goes over Rebekah Brooks's explanation about why she suggested in 2003 that payments had been made to police offiers - but later said she had no specific knowledge of payments. He quotes the comedy sketch show Little Britain, he suggests there is a bit of "yeah but, no but" going on.
:joker:
1404:
Mr Bryant says politicians have "colluded for far too long with the media" and "seek their favour" - which means they don't want to stand up to them. He says News International chief Rupert Murdoch has far "too great a sway over our national life". It wouldn't happen in America, he says. The BSkyB takeover should be "put on ice" for the time being, he says - to cheers from Labour MPs.
Hear, hear ..... :thumbs2:
arista
06-07-2011, 01:18 PM
"put on ice"
No its not up to Labour
the BSkyB full take over
has nothing to do with this.
arista
06-07-2011, 01:19 PM
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2011/7/5/1309906744418/Steve-Bell-06.07.2011-001.jpg
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14042764
1420:
Labour MP Keith Vaz asks whether it is definitely the case that it is illegal to pay police officers. Mr Grieve says it is, unless it's some sort of second job. He says he can't think of an instance in which it would be legal to get money from an "extraneous source".
i.e. a "bung" ..... ;)
1432: Iain Watson Political correspondent, BBC News
At a hearing of the culture select committee back in 2003, Rebekah Wade, now Brooks, told MPs "we have paid the police for information in the past". The News of the World operated "within the code and the law". But today the attorney general, apparently wracking his brains, indicated he couldn't think of circumstances where paying the police would be within the law.
Of course not - it immediately jeopardises their alleged impartiality ..... :rolleyes:
I am so lame.. I saw how long this was and instantly couldn't be bothered. Sorry!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14046070
The Metropolitan Police chief has said any officer found to have received "inappropriate" payments from News International will be disciplined.
Sir Paul Stephenson said documents from the company which allegedly showed such payments were being investigated.
E-mails allegedly showing officers were paid tens of thousands of pounds have been seen by the BBC's Robert Peston.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14042764
1509: Alex Weir, from New York,emails:
As a former Met Police Officer I am horrified that journalists have paid police officers for information. It is one thing to have a beer in a local pub with a friendly hack but quite unacceptable to pass on confidential information!
1515:
Mr Watson goes on to make allegations about "unlawful tactics" being used at the newspaper - he says Rebekah Brooks' culpability goes beyond taking responsibility as the head of the organisation. Labour's Steve Rotheram, Liverpool Walton MP, says the Sun lied to the country at the time of the Hillsborough disaster. Mr Watson notes that Liverpool now boycotts the Sun and says there is now a campaign to boycott its sister paper, the News of the World.
Good for Liverpool !
:thumbs:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14042764
1529:
Former Labour home secretary Alan Johnson says David Cameron was right to say there would be a public inquiry - but was wrong to say Rebekah Brooks should not resign.
Well, they are "bezzie frenz" ..... :wink:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14042764
1537:
The Guardian is reporting that News International has established that Rebekah Brooks was on holiday in Italy when the paper ran a story which referred to a message that had been left on Milly Dowler's phone. The paper says the company also believes Brooks was away in the two weeks following the murder of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.
Alibi, shmalibi ..... :rolleyes:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/06/news-of-the-world-rebekah-brooks
Extract :
As editor of the News of the World Rebekah Brooks was confronted with evidence that her paper's resources had been used on behalf of two murder suspects to spy on the senior detective who was investigating their alleged crime.
Brooks was summoned to a meeting at Scotland Yard where she was told that one of her most senior journalists, Alex Marunchak, had apparently agreed to use photographers and vans leased to the paper to run surveillance on behalf of Jonathan Rees and Sid Fillery, two private investigators who were suspected of murdering their former partner, Daniel Morgan. The Yard saw this as a possible attempt to pervert the course of justice.
Brooks was also told of evidence that Marunchak had a corrupt relationship with Rees, who had been earning up to £150,000 a year selling confidential data to the News of the World. Police told her that a former employee of Rees had given them a statement alleging that some of these payments were diverted to Marunchak, who had been able to pay off his credit card and pay his child's private school fees.
:o
joeysteele
06-07-2011, 11:39 PM
Well it doesn't surprise me Cameron is supporting her, he was also very close to Coulson too.
Tom4784
07-07-2011, 12:12 AM
It was an interesting read, I can see her getting sacked in the public eye but end up being brought back later. Not that she deserves it mind if she is behind this.
Well it doesn't surprise me Cameron is supporting her, he was also very close to Coulson too.
Cameron kisses her *** ..... :joker:
It was an interesting read, I can see her getting sacked in the public eye but end up being brought back later. Not that she deserves it mind if she is behind this.
Yeah, she's Murdoch's little apple, so she won't get hurt by this - she'll probably be called to the US and end up a Governor ..... ;)
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/peteroborne/100095686/david-cameron-is-in-the-sewer-because-of-his-news-international-friends/
Extract :
David Cameron, who has returned from Afghanistan as a profoundly damaged figure, now faces a crisis. The series of disgusting revelations concerning his friends and associates from Rupert Murdoch’s News International has permanently and irrevocably damaged his reputation.
Until now it has been easy to argue that Mr Cameron was properly grounded with a decent set of values. Unfortunately, it is impossible to make that assertion any longer. He has made not one, but a long succession of chronic personal misjudgments.
He should never have employed Andy Coulson, the News of the World editor, as his director of communications. He should never have cultivated Rupert Murdoch. And – the worst mistake of all – he should never have allowed himself to become a close friend of Rebekah Brooks, the chief executive of the media giant News International, whose departure from that company in shame and disgrace can only be a matter of time.
We are talking about a pattern of behaviour here. Indeed, it might be better described as a course of action. Mr Cameron allowed himself to be drawn into a social coterie in which no respectable person, let alone a British prime minister, should be seen dead.
It was called the Chipping Norton set, an incestuous collection of louche, affluent, power-hungry and amoral Londoners, located in and around the Prime Minister’s Oxfordshire constituency. Brooks and her husband, the former racing trainer Charlie Brooks, live in a house scarcely a mile from David and Samantha Cameron’s constituency home. The two couples meet frequently, and have continued to do so long after the phone hacking scandal became well known.
PR fixer Matthew Freud, married to Mr Murdoch’s daughter Elisabeth, is another member of this Chipping Norton set. When Mr Cameron bumped into Freud at Rebekah Brooks’s wedding two years ago, he and Mr Freud greeted each other with exuberant high-fives to signal their exclusive friendship.
The Prime Minister cannot claim in defence that he was naively drawn in to this lethal circle. He was warned – many times. Shortly before the last election he was explicitly told about the company he was keeping.
So what must Mr Cameron do? He must speedily turn his back on Rebekah Brooks. The Labour leader Ed Miliband was right yesterday to call on Mrs Brooks to consider her position at News International.
At the moment, she is putting up the same defence as Mr Coulson when he was Mr Cameron’s senior aide in Downing Street – that she did not know what was going on. Even if we accept this defence – and there is no strong reason to do so because News International has published many falsehoods in this sordid saga – it still does not work. Mrs Brooks, first as editor of the News of the World and the Sun and now as chief executive of News International, was responsible for setting standards. Those standards, as the world now knows, were foul beyond human credibility and she bears much of the blame.
It may well be dangerous for David Cameron to ditch Mrs Brooks. She may have acquired a great deal of information about him and the senior members of his cabinet, both at those quiet Chipping Norton dinners and quite possibly through other, nefarious means. Mrs Brooks is cornered and liable to strike out. But that is a risk the Prime Minister must take.
The truth will out ..... :cool:
joeysteele
07-07-2011, 08:34 AM
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/peteroborne/100095686/david-cameron-is-in-the-sewer-because-of-his-news-international-friends/
Extract :
The truth will out ..... :cool:
Really strong article, good post.
Really strong article, good post.
Until this latest expose, I had no idea just how corrupt and self-interested Cameron was/is - now we know that he (metaphorically) sleeps with the (flame-haired) devil ..... :eek:
arista
07-07-2011, 08:51 AM
Until this latest expose, I had no idea just how corrupt and self-interested Cameron was/is - now we know that he (metaphorically) sleeps with the (flame-haired) devil ..... :eek:
And Stinking Labour was.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/News-Of-The-World-Closure-Staff-Speak-Of-Shock-And-Fury-At-Astonishing-Announcement-In-Newsroom/Article/201107116026285?lpos=UK_News_First_UK_News_Article _Teaser_Region_2&lid=ARTICLE_16026285_News_Of_The_World_Closure%3A_ Staff_Speak_Of_Shock_And_Fury_At_Astonishing_Annou ncement_In_Newsroom
The announcement that the News of the World is to close was met with an audible gasp of shock in the newsroom.
Rebekah Brooks and James Murdoch faced a small group of senior management at the tabloid before talking to the rest of the staff.
They were flanked by two security men as they delivered the astonishing news that the newspaper with a history dating back nearly 170 years was to publish its final edition this weekend.
When they made the announcement, the entire office gasped with disbelief, and many staff burst into tears.
Afterwards, editor Colin Myler asked Mrs Brooks to leave the newspaper's offices.
He then addressed the staff himself.
He was shaking and had tears in his eyes because he himself had only been told of the news 20 minutes beforehand.
Staff were left standing around in shock, not knowing what to do or what was going to happen to them.
Mr Myler then went into a meeting with News International staff, after which he planned to take questions from his own colleagues.
Staff members spoke of their fury at the fact Mrs Brooks will be keeping her job while theirs were sacrificed.
The News International chief executive was editor of the NOTW at the time the phone hacking took place.
She has always denied any knowledge of the practice - but the fact remains that many of the current staff were not there at the time.
One staff member told Sky News there was a "lynch mob mentality" towards Mrs Brooks.
"For the sake of one person, 500 people at the NOTW have been sacrificed," he said.
What a b*tch ..... :mad:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14073107
Robert Peston
There is a big question for James Murdoch, the chairman of News International, who tonight announced the closure of the News of the World.
Whether he sacrificed a business, and the career prospects of the News of the World's staff, to protect a particularly valued employee: Rebekah Brooks, the chief executive of News International.
Presumably, no-one will think that he did that in a conscious, deliberate way.
But the sharpest critics of the malpractices at the News of the World, such as the Labour leader Ed Miliband, have been calling for her head.
None of those critics, to my knowledge, were demanding that the News of the World should be shut.
So it is at least plausible that if Rebekah Brooks had resigned in the past 24 hours, some of the popular and political fury towards News International and the News of the World would have been assuaged.
She's Daddy's "Little Apple" ..... :wink:
Beware of the flame-haired devil ..... :devil:
joeysteele
07-07-2011, 10:55 PM
Cameron also made a massive error appointing Andy Coulson after becoming PM.The chickens are coming home to roost,also as to the point of regulating or sorting out the press,while its true Labour should have done so in its 13 years of power, what on earth though did the Conservative party do with 18 years of unbroken rule before that.
Much more relevant and more to the point is what are they going to do now in light of this shocking news that is still coming to light, after now 14 months in power.
Cameron also made a massive error appointing Andy Coulson after becoming PM.The chickens are coming home to roost,also as to the point of regulating or sorting out the press,while its true Labour should have done so in its 13 years of power, what on earth though did the Conservative party do with 18 years of unbroken rule before that.
Much more relevant and more to the point is what are they going to do now in light of this shocking news that is still coming to light, after now 14 months in power.
Close ranks and soldier on ..... :hmph:
There will, of course, soon be another disaster or crisis for the Tories to mismanage ..... ;)
Meanwhile, it's the poor wot get the blame and the rich wot get the pleasure :
See 'im in the House of Commons.
Passing laws to combat crime.
Whilst the victim of 'is passions,
Walks the steets 'midst mud and slime.
:(
joeysteele
07-07-2011, 11:23 PM
Close ranks and soldier on ..... :hmph:
There will, of course, soon be another disaster or crisis for the Tories to mismanage ..... ;)
Meanwhile, it's the poor wot get the blame and the rich wot get the pleasure :
:(
I do think it's a scandal that could bring down a Govt,this coalition is hated by the majority of voters,in poll after poll it only commands a maximum 45% of support from voters polled.
A lot will depend on the Lib Dems here, if their party does not want to be further tarnished by Cameron being seen to have some sympathy with the Murdoch empire and also not willing to act rapidly to new events being unearthed then the party members of the Lib Dems may demand they leave the coalition.
The Conservative party has no chance of winning an overall majority in an election,this may because of the nature of the scandal be the get out clause the Lib Dems have been waiting for.
If the Lib Dems,largely untouched by the Murdoch empire were to see their fortunes rise in the polls they may well pull out saying a whole new election is needed now.
I never believed this coalition would last 5 years anyway and after this scandal, which will run like the expenses scandal for ages, will I think mean an earlier election rather than a later one.
If the Lib Dems did pull out, Cameron would have to go to the Country,the plan for this parliament to be fixed for 5 years is not as yet through the commons I believe.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-14082040
A teaching union has called on a Lancashire school, where Rebekah Brooks is a governor, to drop her from plans to hand out end-of year prizes.
The News International chief executive is expected to attend Preston's Fulwood Academy, where she has been a governor since it opened in 2009, on Wednesday.
Lancashire's NUT secretary said Ms Brooks' attendance was "inappropriate" during phone-hacking investigations .
But the school said Ms Brooks' invitation would not be withdrawn.
I hope the stiudents are revolting ..... :laugh2:
arista
08-07-2011, 05:25 PM
Rebekah Brooks
She is no longer in Charge at the News International clean up.
So thats clever.
SkyNewsHD
arista
08-07-2011, 07:47 PM
A. Coulson is out on Bail
due to return in Oct.
SkyNewsHD
arista
08-07-2011, 07:47 PM
A. Coulson is out on Bail
due to return in Oct.
SkyNewsHD
joeysteele
08-07-2011, 11:00 PM
On bail until October, the Police have a massive amount to look at then, leaving it that long.
I was surprised and thought it maybe revealing Coulson didn't say he was going to fight the allegations and clear his name only just saying he couldn't say anything.
It looks like it's going to be a really big one.
arista
09-07-2011, 09:38 AM
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2011/7/9/1310167392913/9.7.11-Martin-Rowson-cart-003.jpg
joeysteele
09-07-2011, 09:43 AM
As for Murdoch flying in today to the UK, he should be sent straight out again.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2013040/News-World-phone-hacking-Cameron-Rebekah-Brooks-Chipping-Norton-sets-gilded-life.html#ixzz1Rh4pQ4pL
David Cameron and News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks are at the heart of what has become known as the ‘Chipping Norton Set’.
It is made up of powerful political and media figures who have homes in a tiny triangle in one of the most scenic parts of England – the Cotswolds. The group go to the same house parties, dine together and even ride together.
As recently as last Christmas, the Camerons went to the home Mrs Brooks shares with her second husband, Old Etonian Charlie Brooks, for a festive lunch with her boss, James Murdoch.
The meal took place just days after Mr Cameron stripped Business Secretary Vince Cable, an avowed enemy of Rupert Murdoch, of his power to decide on Mr Murdoch’s attempt to take full control of BSkyB. Responsibility was handed to Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, an unabashed fan of the media mogul.
The Brookses, who married in June 2009, live in a sprawling property in Chipping Norton, barely a mile from David Cameron’s £750,000 constituency home in Dean, near Charlbury.
At the wedding, held on the Brooks estate, Mr Cameron – who has gone riding in the local countryside with Mrs Brooks – exchanged a ‘high-five’ greeting with PR fixer Matthew Freud.
Freud – married to Murdoch’s daughter Elisabeth, who recently sold her TV company Shine to News Corp – lives 15 miles away in the £5 million 22-bedroom Burford Priory, set in 15 acres.
Freud is the ultimate networker, whose clients benefit from his proximity to power. His company, Freud Communications, has pocketed hundreds of thousands of pounds in fees from the Coalition since the Election.
By far the most lavish parties in the Chipping Norton set are thrown by the Freuds. The most spectacular in recent years was Elisabeth Murdoch’s 40th birthday, held at the priory in October 2008. Tory guests included the Camerons, Chancellor George Osborne and wife Frances, and Andy Coulson. The Labour elite turned out, too. Tony Blair, Peter Mandelson, David Miliband, Tessa Jowell and Labour pollster Philip Gould and his publisher wife Gail Rebuck were all there.
In the summer of 2008, the Camerons were flown in Freud’s private plane, a Gulfstream IV, to meet Rupert Murdoch on his yacht, Rosehearty, off the Greek island of Santorini. Also on board were singer Billy Joel and Mr and Mrs Brooks. The Freuds’ yacht, the Elisabeth F, was moored nearby.
Afterwards, Cameron was flown on to Turkey in the jet for a family holiday. The two vessels then sailed on to Corfu where the Freud-Murdoch party enjoyed a dinner at Rothschild’s holiday home on the island.
They're in each other's pockets ..... ;)
Perhaps they swap wives ..... :conf:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2013534/Rebekah-Brooks-rang-Gordon-Brown-say-Ive-seen-sons-medical-files.html#ixzz1RphW3qbs
Gordon Brown has been left 'shocked' by the way his family's personal details have been obtained through alleged 'criminality' and 'unethical means', his office said tonight.It has been claimed the former prime minister was targeted by The Sun and the Sunday Times.The two newspapers allegedly accessed details from his legal file, his Abbey National bank account and his baby son's medical records.
Mr Brown's spokeswoman said: 'Gordon Brown has now been informed of the scale of intrusion into his family's life. The family has been shocked by the level of criminality and the unethical means by which personal details have been obtained. The matter is in police hands. The police have confirmed Mr Brown is on Glenn Mulcaire's list. And some time ago Mr Brown passed all relevant evidence he had to the police.'
A former aide to Mr Brown questioned how The Sun, when News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks was editor, obtained details of his son Fraser's cystic fibrosis. David Muir, one of Mr Brown's most senior advisers at No 10, said: 'They were contacted by Rebekah Brooks, who told them that they had information that Fraser had cystic fibrosis, which was a matter that they, the family, were just getting their heads around at the time and dealing with. They didn't know how Rebekah came across this information and now, what's come to light, it was obtained by what appeared to be illegal methods.'
Well, if that ain't complicity in a crime, I don't know what is ..... :puzzled:
Will she escape charges yet again ..... :rolleyes:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14166004
News International's Chief Executive Rebekah Brooks has resigned, issuing the following statement:
"At News International we pride ourselves on setting the news agenda for the right reasons. Today we are leading the news for the wrong ones.
The reputation of the company we love so much, as well as the press freedoms we value so highly, are all at risk.
As Chief Executive of the company, I feel a deep sense of responsibility for the people we have hurt and I want to reiterate how sorry I am for what we now know to have taken place.
I have believed that the right and responsible action has been to lead us through the heat of the crisis. However my desire to remain on the bridge has made me a focal point of the debate.
This is now detracting attention from all our honest endeavours to fix the problems of the past.
Therefore I have given Rupert and James Murdoch my resignation. While it has been a subject of discussion, this time my resignation has been accepted.
Rupert's wisdom, kindness and incisive advice has guided me throughout my career and James is an inspirational leader who has shown me great loyalty and friendship.
I would like to thank them both for their support.
I have worked here for 22 years and I know it to be part of the finest media company in the world.
News International is full of talented, professional and honourable people. I am proud to have been part of the team and lucky to know so many brilliant journalists and media executives.
I leave with the happiest of memories and an abundance of friends.
As you can imagine recent times have been tough. I now need to concentrate on correcting the distortions and rebutting the allegations about my record as a journalist, an editor and executive.
My resignation makes it possible for me to have the freedom and the time to give my full cooperation to all the current and future inquiries, the police investigations and the CMS appearance.
I am so grateful for all the messages of support. I have nothing but overwhelming respect for you and our millions of readers.
I wish every one of you all the best.
Rebekah"
Good Riddance ..... :cheer2:
She's quit.
Interesting...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14166627
"Earlier today, Rebekah Brooks resigned from her position as CEO. I understand her decision and I want to thank her for her 22 years of service to the company.
She has been one of the outstanding editors of her generation and she can be proud of many accomplishments as an executive.
We support her as she takes this step to clear her name."
"Now, what's for lunch?"
:joker:
joeysteele
15-07-2011, 12:07 PM
Absolutely,good riddance, and so much for her being the 'priority' of Rupert Murdoch.
They know there is loads of very nasty times ahead on this,she has so many questions to answer. Hopefully the venom now turns on James Murdoch, there must be a fair few doubts hanging over him on this now too.
as News International slaps gagging orders on chief executives (apart from that inquiry on Tuesday)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2015013/Rupert-Murdoch-apologises-phone-hacking-meets-family-Milly-Dowler.html#ixzz1SHbQ8Hhw
Former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks was given a seven-figure severance package after resigning, it has emerged.
Senior colleagues have estimated the pay off, handed out five days after the final edition of the News of the World she used to edit, to be around £3.5million.
The final editor of the paper, Colin Myler, is believed to be in line for a £2million pay-off and two of the company's senior lawyers - Jon Chapman and Tom Crone - will both get around £1.5million, the Independent reported.
Les Hinton, chief executive of Dow Jones which publishes the Wall Street Journal, also resigned last night and is likely to receive a hefty sum.
The financial settlements will include gagging orders to stop executives discussing company matters outside of any public inquiries or criminal proceedings.
Pay up to shut up ..... the rich get richer ..... :rolleyes:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14178051
The 43-year-old was arrested by appointment at a London police station and remains in custody.
She was arrested on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications and on suspicion of corruption.
She quit News International on Friday as pressure mounted over her role in the deepening scandal.
Mrs Brooks was editor of the paper between 2000 and 2003, during which time the phone belonging to murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler was tampered with.
BBC Business Editor Robert Peston said News International was not aware that Mrs Brooks would be arrested when her resignation was being discussed at the company on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week. She eventually resigned on Friday.
Mr Peston added: "It's certainly the most extraordinary development. Rebekah Brooks is incredibly close to the most powerful people in the UK - the current prime minister, the previous prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. More or less every senior person of influence within Britain."
He said it could now potentially jeopardise her appearance at the Parliamentary Select Committee on Tuesday, where she is due to answer MPs questions on the hacking scandal.
"I would assume having been arrested it's now almost impossible for her to appear. It's very difficult for MPs to ask her questions that wouldn't be seen to be impinging on the police investigation."
Mrs Brooks's arrest is the tenth made by Operation Weeting police, who are conducting the current investigation into phone hacking.
Those arrested and bailed by police as part of the new investigation have included ex-NoW editor Andy Coulson, ex-NoW assistant editor Ian Edmondson, ex-NoW chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck, senior ex-NoW journalist James Weatherup, freelance journalist Terenia Taras, Press Association journalist Laura Elston, an unnamed 63-year-old man, and ex-NoW royal editor Clive Goodman.
Officers from Operation Elveden were also involved with this latest arrest. They are investigating allegations of inappropriate payments to police, an inquiry which is being supervised by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
A spokesman for Mrs Brooks says the Met police notified her on Friday, after her resignation had been agreed, that she would be arrested.
He also said her arrest would make her appearance at the committee "pretty tricky" and that said she had been offering to speak to police on voluntary basis since January, so she was "very surprised" to learn she would be arrested.
Her former boss, News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch, and his son James Murdoch, chairman of News International, are also due to appear before MPs.
Grave situation
Media analyst Steve Hewlett says the timing of these latest events may have been an attempt to limit the damage done to News International.
"To have a very senior executive of the company arrested would have been rather worse than having a very senior former executive of the company, albeit only just," he said.
"If that's correct, then it may even be that even the latest move by News Corporation to kind of stem the tide - with the resignations of Les Hinton in America and Rebekah Brooks - even that may have been forced on them by events beyond their control.
"Which would raise yet further questions about whether News Corporation have even now really understood and accepted the gravity of the situation that they're facing."
Will she get a pot to piss in ?
:laugh2:
joeysteele
17-07-2011, 06:21 PM
Oh well, as expected,she will now be able to really not answer anything at the select committee on Tuesday.
If she cannot answer though, that could be an indication of how deep in she is herself in this scandal and a sign of all the really bad stuff yet to be made known.
Oh well, as expected,she will now be able to really not answer anything at the select committee on Tuesday.
If she cannot answer though, that could be an indication of how deep in she is herself in this scandal and a sign of all the really bad stuff yet to be made known.
Yeah, she could have been evasive before a committee and taken her chances but answering criminal charges backed by "intimate" investigation with the risk of imprisonment if found guilty is a different matter entirely ..... :idc:
Ms Brooks, who has denied wrongdoing, was released at midnight.
:idc:
joeysteele
18-07-2011, 07:23 AM
Yes. released on bail like Coulson, now she can really avoid having to answer any tricky questions on Tuesday, protected now by being on bail while being investigated.
She will likely see that as a kind of short term reprieve.
Rebekah Brooks' lawyer is making a statement at 1230
1249:
Rebekah Brooks's solicitor Stephen Parkinson reads a statement saying the former News International chief executive is not guilty of any criminal offence.
joeysteele
18-07-2011, 12:07 PM
1249:
Rebekah Brooks's solicitor Stephen Parkinson reads a statement saying the former News International chief executive is not guilty of any criminal offence.
Will everyone be believing him? I think not.
1249:
Rebekah Brooks's solicitor Stephen Parkinson reads a statement saying the former News International chief executive is not guilty of any criminal offence.
Later :
He said the Metropolitan Police conducted an interview process which lasted nine hours and that they put no allegations to her, nor showed her any documents connecting her with any crime.
joeysteele
18-07-2011, 03:08 PM
Later :
Tea and biscuits and a cosy chat then, you don't get arrested to get that.
Being arrested would have her interveiwed under caution, have questions,allegations and anything else put to her, over 9 hours it will hardly have been minor stuff either.
The fact she is bailed leaves the Police with the view that they will dig some more and likely have more to put to her next time when she answers that bail.
She wasn't released being told she could be arrested again in the future, she was bailed which means this arrest remains valid while they pursue the matter further. Amazing what people do with wording though.
Tea and biscuits and a cosy chat then, you don't get arrested to get that.
Being arrested would have her interveiwed under caution, have questions,allegations and anything else put to her, over 9 hours it will hardly have been minor stuff either.
The fact she is bailed leaves the Police with the view that they will dig some more and likely have more to put to her next time when she answers that bail.
She wasn't released being told she could be arrested again in the future, she was bailed which means this arrest remains valid while they pursue the matter further. Amazing what people do with wording though.
Yeah, her brief doesn't mention "bail" at all but does mention that the Red Devil has an "appointment" with the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee ..... :rolleyes:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/brooks-released-bail-hacking-arrest-234854499.html
Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of News International, has been released on police bail following her arrest over allegations of corruption and phone hacking.
The 43-year-old went to a London police station by appointment at midday on Sunday and was released at about midnight. She has been bailed until late October.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/18/mystery-bag-bin-rebekah-brooks
Former NI chief executive's husband denies bag – containing computer, paperwork and phone – belonged to his wife
Detectives are examining a computer, paperwork and a phone found in a bin near the riverside London home of Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of News International.
The Guardian has learned that a bag containing the items was found in an underground car park in the Design Centre at the exclusive Chelsea Harbour development on Monday afternoon.
The car park, under a shopping centre, is yards from the gated apartment block where Brooks lives with her husband, a former racehorse trainer and close friend of David Cameron.
It is understood the bag was handed in to security at around 3pm, and that shortly afterwards Brooks's husband, Charlie, arrived and tried to reclaim it. He was unable to prove the bag was his and the security guard refused to release it.
Instead, it is understood that the security guard called the police. In less than half an hour, two marked police cars and an unmarked forensics car are said to have arrived at the scene.
Police are now examining CCTV footage taken in the car park to uncover who dropped the bag. Initial suspicions that there had been a break-in at the Brooks's flat have been dismissed.
It may be sheer coincidence, but ..... :wink:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2016577/Rebekah-Brooks-I-knew-Milly-Dowler-phone-hacking-fortnight-ago.html
Former chief executive of News International Rebekah Brooks tonight admitted the News of the World did use private detectives when she was editor of the newspaper.
And astonishingly, despite an ongoing investigation into the hacking scandal at News International, she claimed to have only found out that murdered Milly Dowler had her phone hacked a fortnight after reading it in the press.
Under the scrutiny of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, she tonight said that she had not been directly responsible for signing off the payments to private investigators, claiming their finances would have been handled by the managing editor’s office.
She also said she had never sanctioned a payment to a police officer and added that in her experience officers had always given evidence ‘free of charge’.
With bags under her eyes and speaking softly throughout, she claimed that, despite a lengthy stint editing the NotW, she had not known that jailed detective Glenn Mulcaire had been on the payroll of News International since the late 1990s, and added she had never heard of his name until his arrest in 2006.
As the phone hacking scandal was picked apart and analysed piece by piece, she claimed to have only learned that the voicemail of murdered Milly Dowler had been accessed a fortnight ago when the story was made public.
Mrs Brooks did however admit that she knew the identities of some private detectives and had hired them for ‘legitimate’ uses at the News of the World.
She told the select committee: ‘My use of private investigators while I was editor of News of the World was purely legitimate and in pursuit of the names of addresses and whereabouts of paedophiles convicted under Sarah’s Law. I was aware News of the World also used private investigators on other stories.’
Rebekah Brooks was accompanied by her lawyer when she gave evidence. The room had been cleared of the public after the earlier attack on Rupert Murdoch
Rebekah Brooks was accompanied by her lawyer when she gave evidence. The room had been cleared of the public after the earlier attack on Rupert Murdoch
When quizzed on a widely reported episode where Mrs Brooks was said to have hired private detective Steve Whittamore to ‘convert’ a phone number – find an address for its owner – she replied: ‘It was 11 years ago; I’ve answered this question many times,’ adding, ‘The mobile phone was a business number and the address was widely known.’
Mrs Brooks gave evidence to a virtually empty room, which was cleared of the public following the earlier 'foam pie' attack on her former boss Rupert Murdoch. Just seven journalists were allowed to remain in the room, along with the panel and Mrs Brooks.
When Milly Dowler was discussed Mrs Brooks repeatedly told the committee that she had no knowledge of the hacking of the dead schoolgirl's phone or the fact that messages had been deleted from her full mailbox to allow others to be left, leading to the Dowler’s believing their daughter might still be alive.
She described it as 'a very serious allegation and one that appals us all,' adding 'I first heard of it two weeks ago - I'm sorry, that's how it is.
'I don’t know anyone in their right mind who would authorise, sanction or approve accessing the voicemail of Milly Dowler.'
She added that she would 'take responsibility' if it was proven that a journalist on her watch was found to have accessed the murdered girl's voicemail.
She added: 'I really, really do want to understand what happened. Out of everything I've heard of this case I think that was the most shocking thing I've heard for a long time.'
Like Rupert and James Murdoch, Mrs Brooks began her evidence by offering her 'personal apology' for what had happened at the paper.
'Clearly, what happened at the News of the World and certainly (with) the allegations of voicemail intercepts of victims of crime is pretty horrific and abhorrent,' she said.
Following her arrest on Sunday by police investigating the phone-hacking allegations, she said she was appearing with her lawyer, although she stressed she intended to be as open as possible.
mmmmm ...... no more than expected ..... :shrug:
She did, however, look uncomfortable and much older than normal ..... ;)
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