Witness Statements of Rebekah Brooks to Leveson Inquiry

7/31/2019 Witness Statements of Rebekah Brooks to Leveson Inquiry

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Leveson Inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the press

1, I am Rebekah Brooks and I make tills statement in response to a request bythe Inqulry. I hope that my e vid en ce can be of assistance stemming. as itdoes, from a wide perspective gained in a variety of roles in the newspaperindustry.

2. There are two factors which hamper my ability to assist fully which I shouldmention at the outset First, I am presently not iii a position to provide anydocumentary material to the inquiry arising from my twenty two years ofemployment by News International, nor have I been able to refresh mymemory from any material in providing this statement. In my role as ChiefExecutive I had, of course, access to the type of documentation that theInquiry is now seeking. Secondly, the Inquiry is aware that on 15!l1July Iresigned my position, and very shortly afterwards the police decided tointerview me in connection with their criminal investigation: Therefore, I amnecessarily inhibited to some extent about what I can say in relation to someof the issues that the Inquiry has raised with me.

My background

3. I joined News lntemational in 1989. I began my career on the News of theWorld's colour supplement, Sunday magazine, while simultaneouslyattending a journalism course at the London College of Printing,

4. Since then I have been either a journalist or an executive on both The Newsof th e World and The Sun. For almost a decade I was a national newspapereditor. In May 2000 I became the editor of The News of the World and inJanuary 2003 I became the editor of The Sun.

5, In September 2009, I was appointed Chief Executive of News International.My responsibi lities embraced all the newspapers and digital products of thef ive t it les owned by News International: The Sun, The,News of the World. TheTimes, The Sunday Times and the TlS_ As I have- stated, I resigned fromthis role on the 15 11 July 2011.

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Corporate governance and ethics

(a) News International

6. The Inquiry will, I assume, have been .supplied by News Corporation with itscorporate governance policies, which applied to all its subsidiaries includingNews International M y recollection is that these were detailed policies,covering the full range of financial, legal and ethical expectations that thecorporation had of its emptoyees. The po!fcies were not specific to the workof journalists. For example, the Standards of Business Conduct which wereprovided to the eMS Committee by New Corporation on 11 August 2011 areapplicable to all employees.

7 On joining News International, staff members were given a companyhandbook and News International's ethical guidelines. These applied to allmembers of staff, not just journalists. The company also had a director ofcorporate affairs, with responsibility for the whol'e issue of corporategovernance. They would have constant dialogue with other newspapergroups, representatives from Parliament and the Press Complaints

-, Commission about changes to both the law and the PCC Code.

8. Beyond this, it became a contractual requirement for News International's.journalists and editors to work within the Code of Practice issued by the PressComplaints Commission as well as a requirement to comply with the law.Significant breaches of either the Code or the law could result in disciplinaryaction, including termination of employment.

9. Each newspaper had its own legal team, part of whose function was toprovide advice to editors and journalists on defamation, privacy, criminal lawand any other aspects of media law. They, together with external counselwhere needed, would deal with pre-publication issues and post publicationlegal complaints an d proceedings.

10. A lawyer was always available in the newsroom and was present at mostnews conferences to advise on those legal issues, and the managing editorwas usually present as well, with a remit which extended to the pee

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implications of proposed articles and investigations. In addition, the head ofnews and the lawyer on duty would have a dialogue throughout the day onany legal issues affecting the next edition. A night lawyer was alwaysavailable in the newsroom untij the last edition, to proof read the newspaperbefore publication.

11. In the case of both newspapers that I edited, journalists would have receivedtraining on the law and ethics while they were employed by us. The basictraining will have been at college, a local newspaper, or a news agency. Thelegal department and managing editor's office made sure that journalists wereup to date With best practice and complying with ethical and legal standards.As a Journalist, I attended seminars at News International on the law and thePCC.

12. There was extensive training available through Human Resources to improveemployees skills and career development, as well as on the job training, all ofwhich was processed through the managing editor's office.

13. At The News of the World. while I was editor, there w.ere regular seminars,usually on Tuesday mornings, which were attended by members of staff on arolling basis and by one of the legal team. The seminars were designed totalk through and learn about the way to respond to legal and ethical issueswhich cropped up in practice. We aimed to cover all [ournalistic staff in thecourse of a six month period.

14. On The Sun the issues were more immediate and journalists had to "learnlive'. There was a mentor culture in the newsroom. In particular it was partof the responsibility of the senior reporters to help new recruits and to act asrole models for everyone on their team.

15. At both newspapers, conference was an ideal opportunity to periodicallydiscuss changes to the raw and the pee Code.

16. Apart from these arrangements, in both newspapers there was a good deal ofinformal discussion of difficult issues around the reporting of stories atreporter level and desk head level including detailed debate of the Code.

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17. At a senio r editorial level there were frequent discussions of these issues,and particularly whether there was a public interest justification for publishingparticular stories. Often adjudications by the pee changed our practices.As editor of both of The News of the World and of The Sun, I dealt in personwith a nominated contact at the pee an d with the newspapers' ombudsmen,befo re th at role becam e part o f th e m anaging ed ito r's resp onsibilities_

18. The editor is ultimately responsible for what is published in the newspaper,the editor would share the role in ensuring relevant policies were adhered towith the most senior five or si x executives on duty - notably th e d ep uty editor,the managing editor. the night editor, associate editors, the lawyer and thevarious heads of department ( news, p ic tu re s, features, sp ort, subs etc).

19. The nature of the work of our journalists meant that they often had to makeimmediate judgments without the opportunity to consult. They were expectedto know and follow the Code and the law and to take responsibility for theiractions. The newsrooms for The News of the World and The Sun had tooperate on the basis of a high level of trust and an expectation that the goodpractice promulgated by th e n ew sp ap er s would be fallowed. A comp la in tsprocess operated in both newspapers, overseen by the managing editor (or inearlier years the newspaper ombudsman) who dealt with complaints of anynature connected with the conduct of a journalist, either internally orexternally, including pee complaints. If mistakes were found to have beenmade by individuals then we took steps to avoid a repetition. In some casesthat meant that further training was provided. In others, there was adisciplinary sanction, fo r instance, warnings, demotion or termination ofemployment.

20. Clearly, as is now known, th ere w ere failures from time to time. There wereSignificant failures at The News of the World which have been a matter ofintense concern and regret by News Intemational. I do not minimise theimportance of these. I was horrified when I learned of them and I was andam deeply sorry about the further angUish that was caused to Milly Dowler'sparents in particular. But as far as m y own knowledge is concerned, !believed when I was employed by News Interna ti ona l and stil l believe that thecompany took corporate governance, including its responsibiiity to comply

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with ethical and legal standards, seriously and took the action needed tomake sure its policies were followed.

(b) The Press Complaints Commission

21. At the beginning o f m y c areer in journalism, the Press Council was replacedby the Press Complaints Commission and an Editors' Code of Practice wasintroduced in 1991 after the Calcutt inquiry. Over time, media practices havechanged frequently, and the pee Code has kept pace with and ofteninfluenced those changes. In particular, the Code has developed fromdifferent adjudications that are upheld or from the consequences of seismicevents. The death of Diana, Princess of Wales, for example. was an eventthat changed the Code dramatically as did the incorporation of the EuropeanConvention on Human Rights into British law.

22. I set out some examples below:

23. In January 1998, following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, theprevious August, the Code was updated to include a prohibition onharassment, including persistent pursuit. and to protect the rights of children.This was relevant to the schooling and privacy of Prince Harry and PrinceWilliam. The clause on intrusion into grief was extended.

'It24. In 2003, a new clause was introduced banning payments to criminals but this,

of course, included a public interest exemption.

25. In 2004, an annual audit of the Code was introduced. The clause relating toclandestine devices and subterfuge was amended to respond to changes intechnology. Subterfuge could only be justified ff there was no other way ofgaining the information and its use was in the public interest.

26. In 2007, that clause was further amended to include accessing digitally heldprivate information without consent, following the original voicemailinterception convictions of G!en Mulcaire and Clive Goodman.

27 In October 2009, the public interest guidelines were outlined but their contentstill causes confusion and continues to be the subject of debate.

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28. In January 2011, the Code was amended to introduce a new requirement thatprominence is given to corrections due to inaccuracy, including front pagecorrections where necessary.

29 . Over the years pee adjudications have also caused changes of practice. Fo rinstance:

o the pixeltisation of photographs to remove details such as vehiclenumber plates which might affect the security or prtvacy of individuals;

o the practice o f notreporting that an individual is pregnant if they havebeen pregnant for less than 1 2 w ee ks ;

o the practice of minimizing the reporting of details of certain crimes;and

o pi:xellisation of photographs of children;

have all followed pee adjudjcations. It is also right to say that the CultureMedia and Sport Select Committee has over the years conducted a numberof inquiries and made recommendations in its reports which have beenfactored into press practices.

(c) The law on privacy

30. It is important to note the impact of changes in tile law concerning privacy asa result of the introduction of the HRA in 1998. The industry sees privacylaws as having slowly crept in through the back door - l.e. without a debate inParliament The conflict between Articles 8 and 10 of the EuropeanConvention on Human Riqhts is a source of constant debate within thenewspaper industry. It is now a standard requirement for newspapers to putallegations to individuals before running a particular story concerning them.Invariably this has the consequence that they apply for an injunctionpreventing the story being published. In tum this has had a detnrnental effecton newspaper reporting and freedom of speech. We are consequently in anunsatisfactory situation in which a newspaper and any digital media

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connected to that new spaper m igh t be s ilent on a particu lar issue concern inga prom inent person, and yet a great deal o f often inaccurate info rm ation isfreely published elsewhere on the internet and so cial networking. Indeed,in ternet, tw itter and other soc ia l m edia seem usually to be beyond anyreco urs e from th e law o r th e C od e.

(d ) Application o f the public in terest in p rac tic e

31. There are num erous exam ples o f situations, over alm ost a decade as aneditor, in which I refused to run a story because I did no t think that th e publicinterest justified the in trus ion into the private lives of peop le that it wouldinvolve. There are also a num ber o f examples of my newspapers comingup on crim inal c ond uct and referring it imm . ed ia te ly to the po lic e t o in ve st ig ate ,even though it m eant that we could not run a sto ry, I have prev ious ly g ivenone such example to the CMS commit tee in which I r ef -e r red t o a paedophi lering that had been uncovered in which a mother was prostituting her owndaughters. This w as re po rted to police and co nseq uently no s to ry could bep ub lis he d a t th at t ime. It is quite w rong to believe therefo re that the presss im p ly p ub lis he s what it ca n get away with irrespective of th e ethicalrequirements of any g iven s it ua ti on .

32 . The pce Code of Practice allow s cons iderable latitude to ed ito rs to makejudgments about when it is acc ep table to intrude in to a n in div id ua l's p riv atelife without consent. In term s of my o wn resp onsib ilities I to ok th is extreme1yseriously. I could illustrate my point with many examples of when I d id notrun stories, but I do no t expect that th e Inquiry wf ll r e qu ir e me to do so sincethe effec t w ould be to give public ity to m ateria l that I have prevIous ly decidedshould not e nte r th e p ub lic d om ain .

33. I can however give one exam ple where because of a change incircumstances I reversed my o riginal d ec isio n no t to Fun a s to ry .

34. Lord Prescott has talked about his dealings with The News of the World andThe Sun and said that he and h is fam ily were dealt with in a 'v ery rea so na blean d professional ' m anner and the sto ry is no w in th e p ublic d om ain so I fee j Ica n use it a s a n e xam p le .

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35. While I was editor of the News of the World, the news desk receivedinformation from a source that a teenage Pauline Prescott had a baby boywho was adopted almost immediately by another family. The bo y went on tobecome a senior figure in the British military. After discussions w ith thePrescott family directly a nd th er efo re understanding the sensitivities aroundthe private information we had been given, I felt that the public interestexemption did not apply and I agreed not to publish the story despite th eaccuracy. However I came to an agreement with the Prescott family that i fthe sensitivit ies were dealt with and if they wanted to 'g o public' that theywould call me. Almos t two years later, the Prescott family approached me andsaid there had been an incredibly h ap py e nd in g to the story and that we couldnow p ub lish th e s to ry .

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36. I can also provide an example which runs in th e other direction. When I wasat the News of the World we learned that Saddam Hussein was intending tosm ug gle a nth ra x into the UK in perfume bottles. We came under pressurefrom Government not to run th e story and we were told that an all portswarning about the possibili ty was being posted. I took the view that this ofitself demonstrated that the issue was being taken seriously and that thepublic had a right to know what was happening. We therefore went aheadan d published the story.

Polic y a nd p ra ctic e c on ce rn in g s ou rc es o f in fo rm a tio n

37. The confidential ity of al l sources is closely guarded by all newspapers. Newsdesks at News International would have a standard source book of contactsthat were publically available, but jo urn alis ts w ou ld also have their ownsources w hich they would keep to themselVes. Usu.ally the provenance oraccuracy of a story would be the responsibility of th e triumvirate of the deskhead, the reporter and the lawyer. Many seasoned and experienced reportersnever reveal their sources but their reputation for integrizy and accuracy. wonover many years, is enough to validate their information. The editor or seniorexecutives may know the area in which the source came from but not theidentity. On occasion, th e editor, the deputy editor, the managing editor orthe newspaper lawyer might require the identity of a source beforepub li ca ti on, pa rt ic u la r ly if there was a threat of l itigation or a complaint to thePCC. however in my experience this would be extremely rare.

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38. When I was Editor of The News of the World, I had editorial control of thepaper and was involved in all significant issues affecting its content Thiswould include the major stories and investigations, but would 110 t extend todetailed scrutiny of the factual basis fo r the articles, or scrutinizing theaccuracy and provenance of every story. This would not be possible,especially on a daily newspaper.

39. The majority of the material for a daily newspaper is dictated by the newsagenda. Major investigations or exclusive stories or photographs are not aneveryday occurrence. Specialist journalists use a variety of methods to collateinformation and they cover the domestic, foreign, business, political and spor tnews. Included in the mix would be press conferences and public relationsofficers, the wires, news agenoies and their own contacts in their particularfield. In addition, increasingly information comes in from the public andreader-generated content has got ever more sophisticated as personaltechnology has developed. It is now not unusual for video and photographsas w ell as stories to be sent to the news desk; often no t fo r payment Theresponsibility for ensurinq that the material selected for publication is fair,accurate and legitimate is the responsibility in the first instance of thereporter. then of th e news editor. then of the night editor. and then the lawyer.

40. As editor' was concerned that the story or photograph did not breacH thestrict code of the PCC and the laws of libel and privacy. It follows that I didnot ask news editors about the sources of every story for which they had thedirect responsibility, except in the very rare occasions described above. ItWOUld , in fact, be highly unusual and not practical for an editor to know theidentity of the source of every story.

Use of external sources, including private investigators

41. Private investigators have been used throughout the industry for many yearsand were the subject of a report by the Information Commissioner, "WhatPrice Privacy Now?" They were also the subject of an investigation by theeMS committee. These events led to tougher guidelines by the pee and theindustry cracked down on the use of investigators until I believe their use isnow virtually extinct.

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42. As an edito r, I would rare ly com mission private investigato rs or externalp roviders o f in form ation, though I d id so durin 9 The N ews. o f the W orldcam paign for S arah 's L aw in o rd er to trace convicted p aed op hU es w ho h adbro ke n th eir p ro batio n c ond itio ns . I have ad dressed th is issue in th e past,in clu din g in m y e vid en ce to th e In fo rma tio n C omm is sio ne r a nd , mo st re ce ntly ,th e C ultu re , M e dia a nd S p ort C ommitte e o n 19tn Ju ly 2011 .

43 . The relevant depar tment h ead w ould be in c ha rg e o f m ak ing us e o f ex te rna lp ro v id er s o f in fo rma tio n (b y which I mea n n ot jus t p riv ate in ves tig ato rs b uta lso indiv idual sources, news agencies, local reporters and pressc on fe re nc es ) a nd s en io r re po rte rs w o uld have a cc es s to them. In term s ofp aymen t, w h ere this was an Issue, the d ep artm ent o r d esk head wouldnegotia te th e rates o f p aym ent and the p aym ent p ro cess w ould be th ro ughth e m an ag ing ed ito r's o ffic e. T he m ana gin g ed ito r h as ultim ate o pe ra tio na lm anagem ent responsib ility for the newspaper, inc lud ing budgetaryre spons ib ilit ie s, T hese r es pon sib ilit ie s e xte nd t o th e a pp ro va ! o f p ayment s toprivate in ve st ig ato rs a nd th e mon ito rin g and aud itin g o f such payments.

44. Fo r la rge , one-off payments, for example a set of e xc lu siv e phot og ra ph s , th ee dito r w ou ld b e m ad e a wa re of th is f igu re , pa r ti cu la r ly if th is w ould b rea k th ew eek ly run rate determ ined by the m anaging edito r. S ince 2007. wec on sid era bly tig hte ne d u p o n th e p ra ctic e o f c as h p aymen ts , to th e e xte nt th atthey were a small percentage of the budget. H owever, the Pak istani

(~ cricketers ' s tory is a good example o f w here, when I w as called by th e e dito ro f T h e N ew s o f th e W orld and inform ed o f th e d etail, I auth orised the use o f al ar ge amount of cash.

45. In term s of the practices f-oUowedby outside p ro vid ers o f in fo rma tio n, a ll o fthem w ould be expected to w ork w ith in the law and w ith in the PCC Code. Ih av e b ee n s pec ific ally as ke d by the Inquiry w hether I o r the new spapersw here I w orked ever used or com missioned anyone w ho used "com puterh ack ing" in ord er to source stories o r fo r any o th er reaso n. I d id not and I w asno t aw are o f anyo ne at e ither T he N ew s o f th e W ork :! or T he S un w ho d id .

46 Paragraph 10 of the Code governs the use of c landestine devices ands ub te rfu ge , a nd th e E dito rs ' C od eb oo k gives guidance on the use o f agents

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and undercover methods to obtain material intended fo r publication Itscentral statement is as follows:

"Consideration of the public interest, a core theme through much ofthe Code, is seldom more important than here. There is often a fineline to be drawn at the point where genUine investigative journalismceases and intrusive reporting begins. The public interest is crucial injudging whether the ends justify the means and deciding whetherundercover was merely underhand."

47. Though the pce attaches considerable importance to the public interestexemption, the Code itself contains only a partial definition. Because it is notexhaustive, the debate on the scope of the public interest exemption and itsapplication to parti-cular circumstances- genuine public interest or just ofinterest to the p ublic - continues in every newsroom to this day.

Ethics, commerce and the media

48 . It is beyond question th at e th ic al s ta nd ar ds should be applied to the treatmentof news stories both in the print and broadcast media, and breaches of thoseethics should be punishable. The more complex issue concerns what thoseethics amount to and how to ensure that they are followed. Currently the peehas the central role in defining the ethical considerations which should affectjournalistic practice, but overlaying that are legal obligations to which alljournalists are subject. The pee has a responsibil ity to give clear guidancesince its Code and rulings are the touchstone for journalists as to what ispermissible. As I have explained. over the years its guidance has changed.The principles set out in the Code are well understood.

49. In the ten years that I was a nationai newspaper editor, I never experiencedor felt any negative pressure either financial or commercial from tneproprietor. In fact the ooposite is true. There was always constant advice,experienced guidance and support available from the proprietor and the CEO.Every editor concentrates on the successful circulation of the newspaper andlatterly digital traffic or sales. It is one major way of receiving positivefeedback from the readers. At The Sun and The News of the World thereaders were the main responsibility. The commercial decislons on

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advertising, marketing, technology and operations we re t ak en by the C EO inconsultation with the editors. The CEO set the editor an annual budget for thenewspaper and this was distrib-uted and overseen by th e title's managingeditor's office,

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50. It follows that as an editor I did not feel financial or commercial pressure onme to deliver particular results, nor was this an Incentive to print exclusivestories. Professional pride was the biggest incentive. Editors at NewsInternational had a base salary and a bonus at the discretion of the CEO.As Chief Executive, I did consider that some criteria should be specif ied sinceotherwise the bonus could not operate effectively as an incentive to goodperformance, however that was defined. I felt that having been an editormyself, and fully alive to questions conceming editorial independence, I couldrefine the bonus system in a way which would help to improve performancewithout compromising the decisions of editors about content. It follows thatremuneration was not based on the publication of exclusive stories.

Rebekah Brooks1 4 t 1 1 October 2011

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T HE L EV ESO N IN QU IR Y

STA TEMENT O F REB EKAH MARY BROOK S

Int roduct ion1 . I am Rebekah M a ry Brooks, and I m ake th is statem ent in response to a requestfro m th e L eveso n Inquiry .2 . S ince leaving New s International" I h ave no t h ad access to com pany reco rds o rto N ew s I nter na tio nal ' s s ub stan tial a rc hiv e. In p ro vid in g th is s tatem e n t I h av eth erefo re h ad to rely m ostly on my m em o ry , alth ough I h ave ch ecked suchm atters as I can with th e h e lp o f my PA's d esk d iaries, th e Intern et, so m en ew spaper o nlin e arch iv es and su ch perso nal an d jo urna listic m a terial o f m yown as has not been retained by the M e tr o po li ta n Po li ce . In the ligh t o f this,an d th e fact th at I a m . under investigation, I h ope th e Inquiry wi l l under s ta ndt h e d i ff ic u lt ie s i n cu r re d inc omp il in g th i s s ta teme n t.3. That said, I a m . glad to assist, and I h ave done m y best to answ er everyquest ion fuUy. I h op e that my evidence wil l h elp th e Inqu iry as it i nq ui re s i ntoth e r ela ti on sh ip b etw e en p ol iti ci an s a nd th e n atio na l p re ss .4. I h ave been asked to deal with th e ap pr oa ch th at I h av e tak en to en gag in g withs en io r p oli ti cia ns , p ol itic al a dv is er s, c iv il s er va nts a nd s en io r p olic e o ff ic er s,together with my v iew s on th e in fluence of th e m edia on public po licy anddecision-m a king, includ ing m e dia po licy . Th e Inquiry h as a lso asked m e toad dress a n um b er o f points o f d etail, bu t I w ould like to begin by m a king so m egene ra l obse rvat ions .5 . Th e Inquiry bas r ep ea te dl y h e ar d that a n i nd ep en de nt, f re e p re ss is a n e ss en ti alelem e nt o f o ur dem o cracy . I h ave w orked in new spapers fo r 22 y ears, m u ch of

that tim e at a senio r leve l, an d I b eliev e th is to b e tru e.6. I have seen at first h and th e im po rtance o f th e press as a means o f h o ld in gp olitic ia ns a nd o th er p ub li c f ig ur es to acco unt and of influencing p oli ci es f orth e pub lic go od . E lectio ns in th e country occur on ly every few years , andreferendum s are rare. O utside e lections, accountab ility o f our nationalpolit icians is often only achieved through th e media, in particular then ew s pa pe rs , r ep or tin g, q ue stio n in g a nd c ha ll en gi ng p oli ti cia ns o ve r w h at th eysay and do . Th e sam e can be s aid f or o th er p ub li c f ig ur es .7 . I be lieve th at a ll new spapers ro bustly stand up fo r th e interests o f th eir readers,

and tha t they never compromise the ir positions for the sake o f m a in ta in in g

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relationships with politicians or other public figures, whether for personal,commercial or any other reasons. A newspaper's responsibility to it s readers isparamount.

8. Regular contact between the press and politicians. public officials and seniorpolice officers is of vast importance to our democracy. Newspapers an dpoliticians each need contact with the other to do their jobs well, and theycannot have a relationship at a great distance. It is only when journalists andpoliticians ge t to know each other that they can properly understand eachother's perspective. Journalists need to get to know politicians to understandthe inner workings of parliament and Whitehall and of course their policies inorder to explain and communica te those policies to th eir readers. Howeverthey also need to get to know the politicians themselves so that they can fOIIDa v iew on their principles and characteristics. Politicians o f course we lcomethis.

9. It is up to individuals to make SUIethat this contact is appropriate and thattheir relationships adhere to their own professional codes of conduct But thefact that such contact exists is not itself a cause for concern. Somecommentators appear to suggest that regular contact between the press andpoliticians in private should not take place. Such a view would be entirelywrong.

10. This brings me on to the related issue on the importance of newspaper readers.The influence of the press is a direct result of its relationship with its readers.If a newspaper manages to echo its readers' outlook, and at importantmoments to catch their mood, then its ability to persuade, as well as informand entertain, can be significant. This is why sometimes newspaper campaignscan be so effective. Conversely. if a newspaper fails to carry its readers with it,it will quickly know, and 'will try to adapt accordingly. A newspaper can onlybe successful if its tone, content and editorial stance reflects the views of it sreadership. not just one editor or one proprietor.

11. We are fortunate in the United Kingdom that we have a number of nationalnewspapers, which are distinctively different from each other. No newspapercan survive unless it offers content and outlook to its readership which differsfrom its competitors. There are no obvious gaps_ It is broadly true to say thatnational newspapers collectively cater for the needs of the population,

12. My experience of working on a daily newspaper was with The Sun. There isno typical Sun reader - it is a very broad chur-ch. In many ways, The Sunreadership embodies an attitude rather than a particular social class. Its valuesare those of bard working people, with a strong sense of right or wrong, It issometimes said that the relationship between The Sun and its readers reflectsthe national conversation - ifyou wanted to know what the nation was talkingabout. you would look at The Sun.

13. The Sun had an interactive newsroom with its readership. We achieved this ina variety of ways. We h ad an e-mail and text system whereby readers couldcontact the paper, as well as post their opinions on MySun. We conductedMORl Polls of our readers and we even bad our own reader panel to

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understand their coneerns, Every year we organised for millions of readers togo on bargain holidays. Iwould go on an annual caravan park holiday withSun readers and with my senior executives to bear their views on a variety ofsubjects. We also heard their concerns through their telephone calls, emailsand l et te rs . Itwas considered a s ac ka b le o ff en ce for any member o f staff to bedisrespectful to a reader's point of view. This was a two-way relationship andwe would bring issues to the readers' attention through th e pro jectio n o f newsstories, editorials and campaigns.

14. The Sun would often take up the plights of its readers through these channels.These included readers who had been the vic t ims of crime, and it was certainlythe aim to fight for any injustice that our readers had suffered. But the mainpoint was to give the readers a voice and get them a hearing, through us, withthe individual politicians who could help them.

15. I make these points because a myth has developed that newspaper editors, orproprietors, are an unelected force, shaping and changing Government policyto suit their own interests. That is just not so. A newspaper only has influenceto the extent that it has accurately judged its readers' mood. In turn, readerschoose to vote for their paper every day in their purchase decision. With TheSun, the readers know what they're getting and what the paper stands for.

M y career history/job description16. I joined News International in 1989 at the age of 20, after beginning m y career

at Eddie Shah's Messenger Newspaper Group. I worked firstly on the N ews o fth e Wor/dSunday magazine, before joining the N ew s o f the W orld newspaperin 1993 as a features writer.

17. In 1994 I became Features Editor. In 1995, although continuing to look afterfeatures, I became 'Senior Associate Editor' of the News of the World and,shortly afterwards, Deputy Editor. The Deputy Editor was responsible forediting when the Editor (at that time Phil Hall) was on holiday, an d so, in1996, at the age of27, I edited m y first edition of the News of the World.

18. In 1998 I was appointed as Deputy Editor of The Sun. I remained there for twoyears before returning to the News of th e World in 2000 as Editor. Les Hintonwas the Executive Chairman throughout my time there as Editor.

19. At the beginning of January 2003> I became Editor of The Sun where Iremained until 1 became CEO of News International in September 2009. Iresigned my position and, with great sadness, ended my 22-year career atNews International on the is" July 2011.

20. I have been asked about the processes by which I was appointed to thesevarious positions, the relevant specifications, remit and job descriptions, andabout m y relationship with Rupert Murdoch in the conduct of theseappointments.

21. M y early appointments were in the gift of the various editors under whom rworked However, my promotion to Deputy Editor of the NewsofThe World

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in 1995 was, I understand, the result of consultation between Les Hinton (theCEO and Executive Chairman of News International) and my then editor.

22. The same process applied for my appointment as Deputy Editor of The Sun in1998 , and it was Les Hinton who, again, offered me the role of Editor of theNews of The World in 2000. I believe, however, that this would have beendiscussed with Rupert Murdoch.

23. Although I met Rupert Murdoch on a few occasions when I was FeaturesEditor of the News of the World, Ionly had direct contact with him when Ibecame Deputy Editor in 1995 . Rupert Murdoch would sometimes ring thenewspaper on a Saturday evening and either the editor or Iwould take the call.

24 . As Deputy Editor of The Sun, I continued to have contact with RupertMurdoch, especially when the Editor was away. When I returned to the Newsof the World as Editor in 2000, I would generally be in contact with himweekly. However, I continued to have daily contact with Les Hinton.

25. I believe that Rupert Murdoch was more involved and instrumental in theprocess for my appointment as Editor of The Sun in 2003. Thereafter wewere in regular contact, although I still continued to report to Les Hinton on adaily basis.

26. In 2009 I discussed becoming CEO of News International, firstly with JamesMurdoch and then latterly with Rupert Murdoch. This was announced inJune2009 and I became CEO of News International in September. I reporteddirectly to James M urdoch for the remainder of m y career with NewsInternational. Throughout my senior career at News International Ihad aclose working relationship and regular contact with Les Hinton, RupertMurdoch and James Murdoch as well as other senior News Corp executives.

27. As for describing my jobs, their remit and relevant specifications, I will try tobe succinct. M y career in newspapers until the appointment to Deputy Editorlevel was always on the features side of the newsroom. This involved bothwriting and commissioning of features - interviews, buy ups, bookserializations, responsibil ity for the columnists, generating agenda-settingstories and investigations. as well as conceiving ideas for campaigns coveringa variety of both serious and light hearted issues. Thereafter, Iwas a nationalnewspaper editor for a decade in both the daily and Sunday markets , althoughthey ar e completely different disciplines.

28. By contrast, as CEO of News International, I was responsible for thecommercial success of the company. Although al l the editors and their seniorexecutives reported to me, my main responsibilities concerned the financialhealth of th e newspapers rather than their editorial direction. From the outset,a significant and ever increasing proportion of my time as CEO was spentdealing with the phone hacking claims and investigation.

29. The common factors in all these positions were long hours and short holidays.There was no work/lifestyle balance: work was the l ifestyle, as is the casewith most newspaper journalists.

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Relationships with public figuxesGeneral30. I have submitted to the Inquiry (RMBll) a list of meetings with senior

politicians (including political advisers and press officers) and seniorrepresentatives of the police service. The list is, however, based upon suchlimited documentation as I still have, primarily a diary kept by my former PA,which goes up to M ay 2011, supplemented by my memory. I am fully awarethat the list m ay therefore be incomplete (particularly incomparison with theschedules submitted to the Inquiry by others) or inaccurate.

31. Since m y departure from News International I have had no access to m y workemai ls , However, the emails and texts that were on m y Blackberry at the timeI left News International were imaged and saved. These cover a limited periodfrom the beginning of June 2011 until 17th July 2011. I have not been able toview all the emails for that period since a number were compressed and it wasnot possible to retrieve them. There is one email which might be relevant tothe inquiry, whicb I attach as RMB12. A pa rt fro m th is, there is nothing in theemails that I have been able to view which is relevant to the Inquiry. Asregards my emails to my private accounts, there are none there which arerelevant.

32. Ihave not included in RMB/l references to attending party conferences,drinks receptions or awards ceremonies unless there is a reference to meetingwith a specific individual, I often attended events where I would have spokento many public figures about a variety of issues and I have not attempted todocument these events. Also, in some instances I simply cannot now recallthe extent to which, if at all, political topics were raised in the course of socialevents. It is not possible from my records to say who initiated the variousmeetings that I have listed OJ, sometimes, what the purpose or content of themeetings might have been. I have not recorded whether special advisers werepresent at any of the meetings with politicians, but it is likely that they willhave been present during some of the meetings.

Police33. I first met representatives of the police service when I became a senior

newspaper executive. As a features writer I did notcover the crime beat nordid that function report to me as a features editor. I have met with the last fourM PS commissioners: Lord Condon, Lord Stevens and Lord Blair, and SirPaul Stephenson - some of them on several occasions. I have also met witho the r s en io r M PS figures. However, a lot of my contact with police officersstems f rom The Sun's fifteen-year sponsorship and support of The PoliceBravery awards. At these events, I have met with many chief constables andpolice officers f rom th e re gio ns .

C iv il s erv an ts a n d p re ss o ffic ers34. I have met a few civil servants, perhaps just the most senior of the day. The

same goes for po1itical press officers unless they accompanied a politician at a

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meeting. My contacts on political issues were almost always with thepoliticians themselves although often SPAD's would be there. This probablystems from the fact thatInly really became involved inpolitical journalismwhen I h ad executive roles.

35. For as long as I have worked in the newspaper industry, I have observed, andthen also been part of, the symbiotic relationship between the press andpoliticians. It is in politicians' interests 10 try and influence the electoratethrough the readership of the press, and it is in our interest to inform ourreaders of what is really going on in the corridors of Westminster. Onedefining aspect of journalism is the ability to tell many people what fewpeople know. Full contact with senior public officials is a vital aspect of anewspaper's responsibility to its readers,

36, 1 don't know any journalist that doesn't want to meet a senior politician, orthose th at adv ise th em , in th e simple pursuit of what we do - th e gath ering,analysis and distribution of information.

37. Equally, I don't know any politician who doesn't want to meet a journalist orsenior newspaper executive inthe pursuit of what they do - the gathering ofsupport for themselves andlor their policies. A lot of politicians wanted readerfeedback and reaction to their policies or proposed policies. For instance, wewere able to lobby a Chancellor of the Exchequer that a proposed change inpolicy, which would affect cheap flights, would be seen as a tax on the lessfortunate - including many of our readers and the policy was withdrawn,

38. There is a common denominator, however, in both parts of this symbioticrelationship, It is that we are all accountable to the same constituents - thereaders and the voters are one and the same.

39. The relationship inevitably produces tensions, but I believe that, for the mostpart, the tension works for the public good as it produces effectivecommunication between the press and the political establishment shaping ourreaders' lives w hich , in tum, assists in the democratic process.

40. Over time, close association between politicians and journalists does producea build-up of trust and confidence between them and, in some cases, friendshipas well. When your area of work brings you close to others, it is inevitable thatthis will sometimes develop into friendship and it is not possible to legislate orregulate against this. nor is it desirable to do so. There can be nothing wrongwith the fact that friendships are made from time to time, provided thatprofessional duties ar e not undermined.

41. It is important to understand, however, that close and effective workingrelationships must not lead.to compromise on either side. I have never abusedmy friendships to gain access to information that otherwise I could not haveobtained as a professional journalist, nor have I ever compromised m yindependence through loyalty to a friend who is also a politician,

42. But whether a relationship develops into friendship or not, a relationship oftr us t a nd co nf id en ce between the press and politicians does have great value.

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Where I have known a politician well) this has led on many occasions to a freeand frank. exchange of views as we have sought to change policy or betterunderstand why the Government is taking a particular stance. If ourrelationship were always confrontational and antagonistic, we simply wouldno t engage with politicians to that degree. Equally, an amicable relationshipoften helps, particularly indecisions inpublishing stories of a personal nature.

43. In my various roles as a journalist and newspaper executive, I have met manypoliticians from every party, as well as those that advise them. Ihave metthem on numerous occasions, and with varying degrees of regularity. At somepoint or other Imust have met with every leading politician. TIlls was to beexpected, is no different to any newspaper editor and it h as been this way fordecades.

44. 1got to know some politicians very well. I think I met first Tony Blair in 1995.The meetings at that time were all about getting to know h im and his beliefssince it was fairly clear that New Labour would be elected. Over thesucceeding years we met often. particularly during my tim e a s E dito r of TheSun .

45. I do not believe it is true that I was closer to politicians than other newspapereditors. I a lso made sure I met politicians from all pa rties. S im i la rly , I h av egenerally felt that politicians were fairly even-handed interms of the time theyspent with journalists. For instance Ido not know one Home Secretary whowasn't familiar with every Editor on Fleet Street, But of course the readershipof some newspapers is more in sympathy 'with s ome political p arties th anothers.

46. There are many examples I could use to demonstrate that the ability to obtainaccess to politicians has worked to the public good, for instance, the fundingof Chi ldl ine, The NSPCC contacted me to say that the Government wereproposing to cut Childline's funding. The Sun was a great supporter ofChildline and it was also relevant to Sarah's Law since that concerned targetedabuse in the home as well as paedopbiles living inthe community. To me, thefact that as a result of Government cuts an abused child's calls might gounanswered was unthinkable and I knew T he S un readers would be outragedby this when there was so much of tax payers money wasted on bureaucracythat helped no one. I therefore sought meetings both with Gordon Brown andTony Blair to try to persuade them to guarantee Childline's funding for thenext few years, and T he S un campaigned on the issue as well. After initialresistance, they eventually agreed.

47. Another example relates to the now well-known disagreements between TonyBlair and Gordon Brown. Without close access to them, and those aroundthem, the press would never have been able to discover, analyse and report onthe political consequences of their growing rift.

48. There were many different kinds of meetings. In general, there wasn't a formalprocess to arranging meetings. Most often they were held at NewsInternational Headquarters in Wapping, but sometimes I would travel toDowning Street (or Chequers) , the relevant ministry or wherever the politician

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(w hether governm ent o r opposition) was located fo r m eetings. Th e Partyconference season w as, apart from its m ost obv ious purpose, an annualo ppo rtu nity fo r po liticia ns to lo bb y jo urna lists an d v ice v ersa . I h av e atten dedall th e L ab our and C onserv ativ e party co nferences fo r fifteen y ears. N ew sIn terna tio nal h osted a n a nn ua l party w h ere th e Prim e M inister an d th e C ab in etw o uld a tten d (o r th e L eader of th e Opposition and Sh adow C abinet). Th eindiv idual new spapers would h ost d inners and I w ould alw ay s have m anym e etin gs a rra nged o ver th e th ree o r fo ur d ay s an d a tten d th e m a jo r speech es.

49. Meetings were a lmos t always a bo ut p olic y is su es , s om e tim e s a t th e in vita tio no f " th e p olitic ia n, a nd s om e tim e s at our request. W hen a po litician and h is o rh er a dv iso rs ca m e into th e new sroom for a lunch , it w as gen era lly to a dd ressth e Edito r and senio r journalists on th at po litician 's po licies o r to debate ac on te ntio u s i ss ue b etw e en th a t p ar ti cu la r p ol iti ci an a nd th e n ew s pa pe r.Hospitality50 . I h ave been asked to deal with th e qu estio n o f h ospita lity . B efo re th e B rib eryA ct came in to fo rce, it w as n ot u nco m m o n to b uy po litica l co ntacts sm a ll giftse.g. w ine o r flow ers as a thank: y ou o r for co ngratulatio ns. M o st co ntact w aso ver lunch o r dinner at W apping, but th ere w as so m e at restaurants w here th en ew spa per w ou ld usu ally pa y th e b ill.51 . One exam ple is w hen I spent a lo t o f tim e w orking w ith th e Paedoph ile Unit atNew Sco tland Yard as a result o f th e Sarah 's L aw Cam paign , and wouldsom etim es send them a case o f w ine as a th ank y ou fo r w h at th ey did on ada ily b asis a nd w h at th ey h ad to w itn ess. P eo ple, w h eth er po liticia ns o r sen io rpo lice o fficers, w ere ta ken to go od resta uran ts th at w ere a ppro pria te to theirsenio rity , A s far as I w as co ncerned , it w as a lw ay s pro po rtio na te an d h elpedto foster the con tac ts and re la t ion sh ips that we deve lo p ed .Prim e Min is te rs52. I h ave been asked to detail m y p ro fe ssio na l re la tio ns hip w ith e ach o f th e P rim eM inisters.53. I rust m et Tony Blair in 1 995 after h e becam e leader o f th e Labour party. A sth e sch edule sh ow s, I m e t him a t n um e ro us p olitic al a nd s oc ia l o cc as io ns , a ndth ese m eetings increased in frequency th roughout h is decade as Prim eM ini st er . I 'v e had many fo rm a l, in fo rm a l and so cial m e etings w ith h im , so m eo f w hich I h ave been ab le to d eta il . We also spo ke o ften o n th e teleph one on avariety o f issues and I do no t h ave a record o f th ese calls o r th e num ber o f

t h em .54. Tony Blair , h is senio r cab inet, adv isers and press secretaries w ere a constantpresence in m y life fo r m any y ears. It is tru e th at S om e o f th ese pro fessio na lrela tio nsh ips resu lted in so cial co nta ct, b ut that is no t surprising due to th et h ir te en y ea rs t en u re . In th e ea rlier y eats I b eca m e clo se frien ds with h is w ifeC herie B lair - w ho w as a great advocate o f w om en 's equality - and also w ithth e B la ir s' c lo se st a dv ise rs in clu din g A la sta ir C am pb ell and h is p ar tn er F io na

M i ll er .

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55. Although the inevitable tensions caused by my profession and our coveragewere a constant source of disagreements, I remained in close contact withTony Blair throughout his time inDowning Street. From 1996 to 2007 boththe News of the World and The Sun backed Tony Blair and New Labour,although the newspaper was always a critical friend campaigning on behalf ofour readers.

56. The Sun Tan vigorous campaigns to persuade the Government to agree to areferendum On the EU Constitution and against the Euro, It would have beenpossible for Tony Blair to have taken offence over our treatment of h im.Instead, he stood his ground and repeatedly told me that we would have toagree to disagree on Europe. Equally, the News of the World criticised CherieBooth when she (and other instructed members of her chambers) defended theright of a paedophile to live near his victim. The News of the World alsopublished stories concerning Peter Foster which were difficult andembarrassing for the Blairs. Issues would arise therefore from time to timewhich would test friendships but this is inevitable if people are doing theirjobs properly. In my view, it would be completely inappropriate for anyjournalist to put a friendship with a politician before the interest of thatjournalist's readers.

57. In 2003, during the Iraq V v 1 U " , I spent more time than usual talking to TonyBlair and Downing Street I believe this was due to our support of the Iraqinvasion and the large military readership of The Sun.

58. 1 first met Gordon Brown in 1996 and then more frequently in the run up tothe 1997 General Election. I was Deputy Editor of the News of the World and,like our sister paper The Sun. we were supporting Tony Blair and NewLabour. Over the years I established a working relationship with GordonBrown, Ed Balls and the Treasury. Gordon Brown would call every dailynewspaper editor after each of his budgets (and on other occasions as well) togauge opinion and have regular meetings with other Fleet Street journalists - Iwas no different

59. I also established a close friendship with Gordon Brown's girlfriend, fianceeand then wife, Sarah. In fact it was during the announcement of theirengagement in 1997 th at I first advised Sarah on aspects of the media (TheNews of the World published, with their permission. the first photograph ofthem together).

60. We also worked on many charitable causes together including PiggyBankKidsand the Jennifer Brown Research Fund, Woman's Aid and Domestic Violenceand Maternal Mortality. Sarah devoted much of her time to her life as acampaigner and writer, often submitting authored pieces to our newspapers. Iworked with Sarah to achieve publicity and public awareness for hercampaigns and also wrote for her book 'Moving OnUp'.

61. Our support of Tony Blair over the deepening hostility between him andGordon Brown often made the relationship difficult. Although they weresupposed to be on the same side, Gordon Brown viewed newspapers as 'hiscamp' or Blair's camp. My friendship with Sarah at least meant that for some

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w hile w e con tinued to h ave a co rd ial w orking relatio nsh ip, b ut in 20 06 th ef amou s 'curry h o us e co up' left m y re la tio nsh ip with G ordon B row n and 'hiscam p ' quite h ostile. Tony Blair and h is aides w ere conv inced th at G ordonB rown and h is aides had. c o ns pi re d to g eth e r in o rder to fo rce h is earlyr es ig na tio n. G o rd on Bro\V11saw The Sun's support f or T on y B lair a t th is t imea s a b etr ay a l.

62. However by 20 08 . I h ad know n Sarah w ell fo r over ten y ears. Our f r iendshiph ad strength ened th ro ugh m any d ifficu lt situatio ns and tragic personalci rcumstances , an d w e w ere good friends to each o th er despite the conflictsth at aro se fro m th e cr iticism b y The Sun o f aspects o f G ordo n B ro wn 's tenu reas C h ancello r o f th e E xch equer o r P rim e M inister.63. T he y ea r I turned 40 , Sarah was conce rn ed th at I h ad no t planned any bir thdayceleb ra tio ns . T h at sa m e y ea r, both E lisab eth M u rdoch and W endi M urdocha ls o cele bra te d th eir 40 1 hbir thdays and so Sarah invited all th ree o f us withso m e m u tu al frie nd s to h av e d in ner a t C h equ ers and, due to logist ics, to stay

over that night and leav e after b reakfast Th at is th e ex tent o f th e so -ca lled"slumber/pyjama par ty" . Gordon Brow n w as no t presen t at th e dinner but h em a y h av e b een th ere th e next m o rn ing b efo re w e all left.64. In th e end , th e events o f A utum n 2009 , in particular The Sun's co vera ge o fA fgh an istan and suppo rt fo r D av id C am e ro n, m a de it d ifficult fo r S arah and Ito be as clo se as w e h ad been . Indeed , since th e electio n in 20 10 , I believe w eh av e o nly se en e ac h o th e r o n ce at a mu tu al f ri en d's w ed din g p ar ty .65. I first m et D av id C am e ro n, I b elieve, a fter h e h ad been appo in ted Sh ado wEd uc ati on S ec re ta ry . T h er ea fte r, after he b ec am e L e ad er of th e O ppo sitio n inDecem ber 20 05 , I m et him with increased frequency . L ike m o st fo rm a lm eetings, I w ou ld o ften h av e our political ed it or p re s en t. Just as with TonyB lair and Gordon Brow n, I m et David Cameron at nu m ero us po litical andso cia l o cca sio ns (in clu din g w o rkin g b rea kfa sts, lu nc hes, re ceptio ns, N ew sC o rp or atio n s umm e r parties, party con fe ren ce s and d in n er s) .66. W h en h e w as Leader o f th e Opposition D av id C am e ro n a nd I spo ke regu la rlyo n th e teleph one on a variety o f issues, and I do no t h ave a reco rd o f th eseca lls o r th e num ber o f th em . Since M r C am eron h as becom e Prim e M inister,however , r h av e no t been to D ow ning Street. By th en , I h ad becom e C hiefExecutive O fficer o f N ew s In ternational, and I h ad no reaso n to do so . I h av eh ad few fonna l m eetings w ith Dav id C am eron w h ilst h e h as been Prim eM inis ter. W hen I h ave seen h im , it has been m ain ly at so cial events,c el eb ra ti on s o r o th e r o cc as io n s.67 . L ike o th er Prim e M in isters, Dav id C am eron 's v iew s and th ose o f The Sunw ere o ften d iffe ren t a nd w e h ad d isa greem e nts o n po licy .68 . I sh ould add th a t m y h usband Ch arlie and David C am eron and h is fam ily h avebeen friends fo r m a ny y ears. I would s ay th at, pa rticu la rly s in ce C h arlie a nd Imarr ied in June 20 09 , D av id C am ero n and I becam e friends , and h e h as been aper so na l g uest o f m y h usb and and m y self at so cial d inners (in clud ing o n 1 9thDecem ber 20 09 and on 23m D ecem b er 20 10 ), and w e h ave been to C hequers

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(where many other media personnel, public figures and personal friends haveof course also been). I have also met h im at the homes of other personalfriends and family. .

The loan of the retired police horse69. I have been asked by the Inquiry to deal with the loan of a retired police horse

by the Metropolitan Police Service. D u r i n g a holiday with my husband, wehad been told about these retired horses and that, due to their tough lives onthe front line, it was often difficult to retire them properly as they needexpensive veterinary care and experienced riders. Months later, at the end of alunch with Sir Ian Blair , I a sk ed a bo ut the plight of police h orses an d I wasoffered the chance to visit Imber Court - the HQ of the highly professionalMounted Branch. I was subsequently interviewed, and o ur farm assessed, andit was agreed by the M oun ted Branch we should be loaned a retired policehorse. I note that Lord Blair does not recall. this conversation, There is noreason why he should. The main purpose of the lunch was to discuss the IPCCreport into the Stockwell investigation.

Media influence on public policy and decision-making70. I have been asked to deal with a number of specific issues.General Elections71. Rupert M urdoch did of course have strong views about the stance that his

newspapers would take in a General Election an d it is not possible that aneditor of The Sun or the News of the World would support a party in anelection without discussing it with him. He would always listen to opinionsfrom his senior executives - one of his many strengths - and, ifpresented withthe right argument, he would change his mind. But equally, and moreimportantly, the stance that a newspaper took was also influenced by itsreadership. Rupert Murdoch would always ask about the readers and what theythought and what was in their best interests.

72. Though The Sun had supported New Labour for many years, a number ofissues - Gordon Brown's return to Old Labour and his woeful support for thewar in Afghanistan, the size of the bank bailout, the reneging on the promiseof a referendum on the European Constitution - meant that, by the spring of2009, we realised that the paper had run out of things to say in support ofGordon Brown's Government.

73. On so many issues, we found we were attacking the Government and callingfor an election to encourage Gordon Brown to go to the electorate and get hisown mandate. It was fairly inevitable that we would end up supporting DavidCameron, and we chose to show OU I support for h im the day after GordonBrown 's Party Conference Speech inSeptember 2009. Although, by then, Ihad become CEO of News International, I was instrumental in our change ofstance along with Dominic Mohan, The Sun political team and of courseRupert and James Murdoch. As the In qu iry b as heard, Rupert Murdoch was

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J . Comic Reliefk. MRSA1 . V i ctim s o f d an ger ou s d riv in gIn. Victims of knife c r imen. Postcode lottery f o r B r ea st cancero. NHS reformp. Overcrowded prisonsq. Welfare reformr. Fathers for Justices. Sun Employment

78. I deal in mo r e detail with so m e o f th ese ca m paig ns b elo w .77. The m ost significant cam p aign th at I ever ran w as th e S ara h's Law Campa ign .Ibecame personally involved because Ielt a stro ng sen se o f in ju stice on

behalf of Sarah Payne and h er family. Although Roy Whiting was on the SexOffenders Reg is te r, n o members of the public had access to it and so he andother s er io u s p ae do p h il es were allowed to live unchecked in soc ie ty ,notwithstanding that the rate of recidivism in serious paedophiles is around87%. Roy Whiting l iv ed n ea r Sarah Payne's grandparents and had a previousconvic t ion for abducting and sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl. I felt thatwe should do some th ing about the fact that paedophiles were living uncheckedin this way.

78. We began a campaign of naming and shaming paedopbiles. I accept that thiscould have been done better with mo r e time but I balanced that with a n eed tohighlight this issue while the readers were aware of the story. Some peoplewere included in the list that should not have been grouped with seriouspaedophiles, There were risks of vigi lant i sm. Yet, I had looked at the successof Megan's Law in the United States, which was similar to the la w that wewere proposing .. and in the case of Megan's Law there were almost noe xamp l es o f v ig il an ti sm .

79. After a couple o f weeks we stopped the naming and shaming and thegovernment agreed to close all the loopholes in the la w which al lowedpaedophiles to r ema in unchecked in the community. That happened. and incertain defined cases of so m eone w ho has regular , unsupervised access tochildren, it is now p o ss ib le f o r parents to find out whether tha t individual has arecord for chi ld sex offences. In total 15 new pieces of legislation wereintroduced as a result of the campaign.

80. When I was Editor o f The Sun, we always supported and campaigned onbehalf of the Military and inparticular the Armed Forces. J spent a lot of t imewith the S ecreta ry o f State for Defence and with the Chiefs of the ArmedServices. I spent some time in Afghanistan and was pleased to see how oursupport for the troops helped morale. In October 2007 we launched acampaign fo r a charity called Help For Heroes . Soldiers who had suffered

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wounds in theatre particularly from rEDs were suffering poor aftercare oncetheir immediate medical needs had been dealt with. In particular, at that timethe rehabil i tat ion centre Hedley Cour t needed a huge injectio n o f fu nd s to co pewith th e i nju ri es coming from Afghanistan. The campaign has been hugelysuccessful. I th in k to date th e charity has raised well over 100 million pounds.After a dinner with the Prince of Wales - he suggested that we also fund andorganize an annual awards ceremony to praise all aspects of the military. Thisis now known as the Sun's Millies and is supported greatly by the Prince ofWales, The Duchess of Cornwall, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge andPrince Harry, as well as politicians from all parties.

81. Our domestic violence campaign influenced the Domestic Violence, Crimeand Victims Bill 2005. As a direct result of our work with Sandra Horley atRefuge and Women's Aid , with Gordon Ramsay and Sarah Brown and fromreceiving letters from women readers suffering from domestic violence, wecampaigned regularly between 2003 and 2005 to tighten up the law oncommon assault and restraining orders. The Sun's campaign was praised bythe police, the Home Secretary and relevant charities.

82. Finally, I should mention the campaign concerning the response of HaringeyCouncil to the failings over the Baby P case. We ran a campaign demandingth e resignation o f those that we felt were most responsible: Sharon Shoesmith,the social workers and the doctor. Baby Peter sustained over 50 injuriesduring an eight-month period inwhich he was repeatedly seen by HaringeyChi ldrens ' Service and NBS professionals. The campaign h ad eno rm o ustraction with our readership and w e were able to deliver a petition signed by1.5 million people to Downing Street calling for their resignations. Thedecision of Social Services to allow a "step-father" who was on a charge ofraping a two year old to continue living in Baby P's house was a cataclysmicfailure and the reaction of our readership does demonstrate that we were rightto call for personal responsibil i ty to be taken by Ms. Shoesmi t h ,

83. I have been asked about the risks associated with campaigns, and I havealready referred to the risks of vigilantism in connection with the paedophilecampaign. With the campaign concerning Haringey Council I am sure that wetapped into and reflected the public mood, but we were criticized for beingtough and harsh and some will say that we should have a cted w ith morerestraint. The biggest risk is to launch a campaign that the newspaper's readershave no interest in . because this means you have misjudged them. Also Iaccept that there is an associated risk that campaigns can be seen, wrongly, as'media witch hunts' .

Public and political appointments84. I have been asked to what extent my views were sought or offered on cabinet

appointments. I think the genesis for this question must be stories that haveappeared inthe past that a particular Shadow Minister had been replaced at m yrequest. This is myth. I had no influence over the appointment of anyminister, shadow or otherwise. I have never sought it, and it is preposterous tothink that a Prime Minister or party leader would be dictated to by me. Fromtime to time all newspapers, including those that I edited, might campaign for

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AndyCou lSdn .96; 1 have b ee n a sk ed to ' se t out full details of a ll a dv ic e sought o r offered by m ein r el at io n to th e appOll)tm.eDt o f Andy Coulson with partku lar referen ce to a

story th a t I d is su ad ed David C am er on f ro m appointing Guto Ham to t h e p o st .97. This is anotber my t h . The first I.heard of the possibility ef Andy Coulsonbeing appo inted to th e ro le w as fro m Aridy Coul.sOli himself . By thts t ime M rC oulson h ad left New s Internatio nal. M r Coulson told m e, th e idea had com e

fr01U George Osborne. A .t no poin t in ' d ie process d i d either D i t ' l , t i d , C am eron orGeorge Osborne s ee k my v iew s a bo u t. hi s s ui ta b il ity bef o re h i s a ppo in tmen t,9& . A s fo r.Quto Harri, I. h ad no idea, th at h e w as a contender for the job, 1 k now ,G uto and h av e th e h igh est regard for h im . In had been a sked fo rm y viewab ou t'O u:to H arri I w ould h ave o illy said posit ive t h ings a bou t him. 9 , 9 . Fi~nall .y.this particular allegation, one of many tha t had been made about me,d oes giv e rise to ' a w id er p,oiPt. It i s o ne th ing to be a passionate advo cate of afre-e press, but:q you seek to defend al l ~tcura:te fie. press, y o u lose th ernora4 high ground . 1 th lr lk' th a t-if th e press do ge t it wrong, th en tbere is aresp on sib ility o n th em to so rrect th err in aecu ra cies, o t;h erw ise these, myths-and .false stories continue to ' be , pub:lished unchecked an d th en tocirculate to ~\Videi ' audience- through the, I nt er n et , Co r re ct in g Inaccuracies d oes n ot cost a

great deal for th e ,press, y et itis\ given a tow p rio rity a nd minime! projectjtm. Irecognise that th e n ew sp ap er s t ha 11 e dite da re asmuch at fault as any other illth is respect ' ,100, On tire 'is su e o f fault; I would like to return t . o this Inquiry when 1 can speakmo r e f re el y . I t.w o uld bed is in ge nu on s o f me tenot confrent the iailings-ofthepresswhile defending the right of a free p re ss. T h ro ug h roy experience as awork,ing j o u r n w . i s r to r 2 2 Y e a r s , and as a CEO o f a med ia group haadl ing ac-()rpQl : '~~cr i~ isLbel ieve that T am in i ; I . unique posit ion.to c ommen t o n f utu rer eg ul atio n , e th i cs a nd p..ractices o f th e p re ss , I n th e la st nin e m . ont~ ~ of m y lifeL lw .ve ,'h ad l it tl e p ro p er o p. po I itmHy for afulLrightoheply. Due to m y current

Situatioft it is s ti ll imp o :$ lb le IQrme: to r ep ly in de ta il .

Dated .... . . .Z o r z

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Witness Statements of Rebekah Brooks to Leveson Inquiry

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