Cameron, Brooks and the emails kept from Leveson

by Guest 16.10.12 0:31

Interesting on front of tomorrows Independant, about emails allegedly kept from Leveson will be interesting to read the story tomorrow...........

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by Guest 16.10.12 12:27

Here is the story online now...........

Cameron, Brooks and the emails kept from Leveson

Prime Minister took legal advice on withholding dozens of 'embarrassing' messages from judicial inquiry

James Cusick,[url=http://www.independent.co.uk/search/simple.do?destinationSectionUniqueName=search&publicationName=ind&pageLength=5&startDay=1&startMonth=1&startYear=2010&useSectionFilter=true&useHideArticle=true&searchString=byline_text:(%22 Cahal Milmo%22)&displaySearchString= Cahal Milmo] Cahal Milmo[/url]

Tuesday 16 October 2012

Private emails between David Cameron and the former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks have been withheld from the Leveson Inquiry after the Prime Minister sought personal legal advice, The Independent can reveal.

The cache of documents, which runs to dozens of emails and is also thought to include messages sent to Andy Coulson while he was still a Rupert Murdoch employee, was not disclosed after No 10 was advised by a Government lawyer that it was not “relevant” to the inquiry into press standards.

The contents of the private emails are described by sources as containing “embarrassing” exchanges. They hold the potential to cast further light on the close personal relationship between the Prime Minister and two of the media mogul’s most senior lieutenants.

However Mr Cameron, as part of legal briefings he received before and after his appearance before the inquiry, was said to have been advised that the Brooks-Coulson emails were outside Sir Brian Leveson’s remit and so he did not need to offer them up to form part of his report, expected to be published next month.

Although the Leveson Inquiry agreed to keep private a number of text messages between Mr Cameron and Mrs Brooks – disclosed by News International – after accepting that they were “irrelevant to its terms of reference”, no agreement was made for any emails or texts originating from Downing Street.

Sources within the inquiry have indicated that while documents detailing Mr Cameron’s meetings with media figures were received from No 10, it had received none of the Brooks-Cameron emails. An inquiry source confirmed: “Everything we got from No 10 we published.”

During his evidence to the inquiry in June, Mr Cameron said his officials would continue to search for emails related to News Corps’ controversial bid for control of BSkyB. He promised: “If any are found, I will make them available to the inquiry.” Leveson sources said that No 10 had not subsequently told the inquiry it had turned up anything.

Downing Street told The Independent last night that “no further relevant material had been found” following the PM’s appearance. Downing Street made no comment on who made the decision on what was deemed “relevant” and what was not. A spokeswoman said: “In common with previous Prime Ministers, the PM sought legal advice in order to co-operate fully with a judicial inquiry.”

The disclosure of the existence of the emails may be embarrassing for Mr Cameron, who personally ordered the Leveson Inquiry in the wake of the News of the World phone hacking scandal.

A senior Labour MP last night called for the dossier to be released, saying it was vital for the Prime Minister to have given full disclosure.

Chris Bryant, a victim of hacking who has been one of the leading campaigners on the issue, said: “If the Prime Minister has taken any steps to prevent any material, relevant or not – whether texts, emails or notes of conversations, between David Cameron and Rebekah Brooks, Andy Coulson and News International – from coming into the public domain, then people will think this is yet another instance of the Prime Minister being less than straightforward with the country.”

Mr Bryant, a shadow Home Office spokesman, said it should not be up to a lawyer inside Downing Street to decide whether a text or email was relevant to the Leveson Inquiry: “The PM must make sure that every single communication that passed between himself and Brooks and Coulson is made available to the inquiry, and more important, to the public.”

The relationship between Mr Cameron and Mrs Brooks, who is awaiting trial on charges she denies of conspiring to hack phones and conspiring to pervert the course justice, and Mr Coulson, who became the Conservative leader’s media chief in 2007, was closely scrutinised by the inquiry.

The former editor of The Sun and the NOTW was asked by the inquiry’s counsel, Robert Jay QC, about the frequency of contact between herself and Mr Cameron when she was News international’s chief executive. She said they texted each other sometimes twice a week, occasionally signing off using the acronym LOL, which Mr Cameron stopped using when told it stood for “laugh out loud” and not “lots of love”. Mrs Brooks did not mention email exchanges.

News International provided the inquiry with text messages between Mrs Brooks and Mr Cameron over three months between 2009 and 2011 which had been retrieved from her phone.

During Mr Cameron’s evidence to the inquiry in June, its lawyer Robert Jay QC said it had been decided that all but one of the text messages was “irrelevant” to Lord Justice Leveson’s terms of reference.

In the disclosed message, sent in October 2009, Mrs Brooks wished the then Leader of the Opposition good luck with his conference speech, adding that “professionally we’re definitely in this together”.

News International provided texts to the inquiry following a request under Section 21 of the Inquiries Act, which was used to compel witnesses to provide evidence.

No politician who gave evidence to Leveson did so under section 21 rules.

A spokesman for the Leveson Inquiry said: “We haven’t given a running commentary on the background to evidence and we will not do so now.”

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by aiyoyo 16.10.12 14:28

I knew all along that Leveson Inquiry is just a face saving exercise for Cameron.

Leveson was made use of to thrown Murdoch under the train.
Cameron has the job he coveted for, and no longer want to be beholden to Murdoch and his demands.
Murdoch was like an old pair of shoes, used and discarded, so to speak.
What better way to get rid of Murdoch than using Leveson to do his dirty job without soiling his own hands.

Cameron escapes Leveson Inquiry unscathed thanks to Government in house lawyer.
Where's the hope for transparency? It shows where the government is concerned transparency is a controlled commodity.

by aquarius2 16.10.12 15:50

I don't know if Rupert Murdoch has plans to go quietly.

On his twitter feed the other day he said that the Savile scandal "had a long way to run" and certainly from the way things have gone so far, it's made his rivals at BBC look very bad indeed and has the potential to ruin the reputations of bastions of the 'British Establishment' (in government, in the NHS, in the police) who were either turning a blind-eye to Savile's activities, or actively facilitating them. Considering the uproar over the Milly-Dowler phone-hacking etc, the public probably thought that was the worst sort of cover-up that could be going on, but now this whole Savile affair seems a whole lot nastier (and it was the lovely BBC who were involved, not the dirty Murdoch press... nah

)

Considering the Murdoch press seems to have hacked pretty much everybody's phone, I wonder what dirt they have on Savile's associates and how that would play out if they took it to Levenson?

by aiyoyo 19.10.12 3:58

in this climate where corruption of the 3Ps (Politician, Press, Police), and the culture of psychosis perverts belonging to paedophile masonship prevalent among stars, celebrities, and well known public figure are taken out of the cupboard to air which stinks the country to high heaven, how Cameron can dilly dally over fate of Met Review of the mccanns case is an enigma?

You are forced to think there is a cover up, else why are they still on a witch hunt to find a phantom abductor when the dogs have spoken?

by Guest 04.11.12 11:42

Revealed: The texts between Cameron and Brooks

Messages were meant to be kept secret, sparking claims of cover-up by Leveson and No 10

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Sunday 04 November 2012

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by Guest 04.11.12 12:10

4 November 2012 Last updated at 07:11

Brooks told Cameron she 'cried twice' during his speech

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Mr Cameron has been urged to publish all his text messages and e-mail correspondence with Mrs Brooks

Texts between the PM and the then-News International chief Rebekah Brooks given to the Leveson Inquiry have been published by the Mail on Sunday.

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by **Tony Bennett** 04.11.12 12:30

Here's all that we have so far. There are 276 comments already!!:

Cameron's horseplay texts with Rebekah Brooks: Intimate messages from PM reveal he likes his 'fast, unpredictable ride'

Messages from a cache of texts and emails handed over to Leveson inquiry
Only a very small number of the messages have so far been made public
Mrs Brooks awaits trial next year on charges of phone hacking and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice

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PUBLISHED: 22:00, 3 November 2012 | UPDATED: 23:30, 3 November 2012

New details of intimate texts exchanged between David Cameron and disgraced media boss Rebekah Brooks have been obtained by The Mail on Sunday.

In one message, the Prime Minister thanks the former News International chief for letting him ride one of her family's horses, saying it was 'fast, unpredictable and hard to control but fun'.

In another, a gushing Mrs Brooks tells Mr Cameron that she felt so emotional listening to his Tory conference speech she 'cried twice', adding: 'Will love "working together".'

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In close touch: Rebekah Brooks (left) pictured on the pone with her husband Charlie Brooks (right)

The messages, with their horseplay tone, are part of a cache of texts and emails handed over to Lord Justice Leveson's inquiry into media ethics by Downing Street and Mrs Brooks. Only a very small number of the messages have so far been made public, leading to claims of a cover-up by No 10 and the inquiry.

A furious Mr Cameron rejected a Commons demand by Labour MP Chris Bryant two weeks ago to disclose all the texts and emails exchanged with Mrs Brooks, the former chief executive of Rupert Murdoch's News International, which is at the centre of the phone hacking scandal.

Her husband, racehorse trainer Charlie Brooks, is an Old Etonian chum of the Prime Minister.

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Mr Bryant suggested Mr Cameron's refusal was because the messages were 'too salacious and embarrassing for you'.

He rounded on the Prime Minister: 'When the truth comes out, you won't be smiling.'

When livid Mr Cameron refused to reply, Mr Bryant, himself a phone hacking victim, accused the Prime Minister of a 'hissy fit'.

To add to the intrigue, Mr Bryant claims to have had contact with a No 10 'mole' involved in compiling Mr Cameron's texts and emails, whom the MP says has confirmed their 'salacious' nature.

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Cosy: Rebekah Brooks (right) was in close contact with the Prime Minister David Cameron

The Mail on Sunday obtained details of two embarrassing texts exchanged between Mr Cameron and Mrs Brooks, who awaits trial next year on charges of phone hacking and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Both texts were sent in October 2009, shortly after Mrs Brooks left her job as editor of The Sun and became chief executive of News International, which owns the paper.

In one, Mr Cameron writes: 'The horse CB [Charlie Brooks] put me on. Fast, unpredictable and hard to control but fun.' He signed off 'DC.'

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Embarrassing: The newly leaked messages sent by Rebekah Brooks and David Cameron

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Admission: David Cameron, pictured at a party with Mrs Brooks in 2009, was embroiled in the controversy surrounding the Met Police lending a horse to the ex-News of the World editor

In another, sent after his speech to the Tory conference, Mrs Brooks said: 'Brilliant speech. I cried twice. Will love “working together.” '

They shed further light on the extraordinarily close relationship between Mr Cameron and Mrs Brooks, both members of the so-called 'Chipping Norton set' based around their Oxfordshire homes.

Mrs Brooks told the Leveson Inquiry earlier this year that Mr Cameron signed some of his missives to her 'LOL' – until she told him it meant 'Laugh Out Loud,' not 'Lots Of Love'.

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Horseplay: The texts were about a police horse, this one pictured on duty

The light-hearted tone of Mr Cameron's leaked text echoes the way he reportedly congratulated Mr Brooks when he started his relationship with Mrs Brooks, saying: 'You'd better not mess this one up, Charlie. It's the most important ride of your life.'

Today's fresh disclosures are bound to lead to further Labour demands that all messages between the pair are made public so the true nature of their relationship can be seen.

Mr Cameron and Mrs Brooks met 22 times in a six-year period, an average of once every three months. Mrs Brooks said that at the height of the phone hacking scandal he sent her a morale-boosting 'keep your head up' message, and expressed his regret he could not be more loyal to her in public.

Mr Cameron has gone out of his way to play down his connection with 44-year-old Mrs Brooks.

He was caught out when it was revealed he had ridden a retired police horse, Raisa, lent to Mrs Brooks by the Metropolitan Police.

The disclosure came amid claims that News International paid backhanders to police while pressuring them not to investigate phone-hacking. The Prime Minister spent days trying to deny having ridden Raisa, but eventually admitted it and was forced to make a grovelling apology – in the middle of an EU summit – for trying to conceal the fact.

It seems unlikely Mr Cameron was referring to Raisa in the newly leaked text, as the horse was 22 years old when lent to Mrs Brooks by the Metropolitan Police in 2008 and would have been put down otherwise. The animal is now dead.

The 'horsegate' saga was not the first time Mr Cameron had tried to cover up his horse-riding exploits with the Brooks.

The Mail on Sunday was told as far back as 2010 that he had been riding with Mr Brooks.

The Prime Minister's then head of communications, Andy Coulson, issued a flat denial and this newspaper dropped the story.

Mr Coulson, who had succeeded Mrs Brooks as editor of the News Of The World before being appointed by Mr Cameron, was forced to quit No 10 in January 2011 over the phone hacking scandal. He now faces criminal charges, too.

It is believed the Leveson Inquiry also has unpublished texts and emails between Mr Cameron and Mr Coulson. Lord Justice Leveson ordered Mr Cameron and Mrs Brooks to send a vast amount of correspondence, including emails and texts, to the inquiry, but only a small number were published.

'I am so rooting for you tomorrow and not just as a personal friend but because professionally we're definitely in this together.'Mrs Brooks

The inquiry's lead QC, Robert Jay, said he would only use 'relevant' texts and emails.

The new leaked texts are believed to have been supplied to the inquiry by Mrs Brooks.

Among the texts disclosed during the inquiry was one sent by Mrs Brooks to Mr Cameron on the eve of his Tory conference speech in October 2009.

In it, she gushed: 'I am so rooting for you tomorrow and not just as a personal friend but because professionally we're definitely in this together.'

Referring to another issue, she said: 'Let's discuss over country supper soon.' It concluded, excruciatingly, 'Speech of your life? Yes he Cam!'

Crucially, the first line of the text, said to be 'humorous', was not read out on the grounds it was 'not relevant'. The two texts published today by The Mail on Sunday were not revealed either.

Mrs Brooks's 'I cried twice' text, was sent immediately after the speech, in which Mr Cameron spoke movingly of the death of his disabled son, Ivan.

The Prime Minister's text about riding one of her husband's 'fast, uncontrollable' horses was in the same month.

A No 10 spokesman said: 'The PM has always been happy to comply with whatever Lord Justice Leveson has asked of him.'

An insider said: 'These new texts are of no great significance.'

A spokesman for Lord Justice Leveson said: 'We have no comment.' A well-placed inquiry source added: 'Only communications deemed relevant will be published.'

Mrs Brooks declined to comment.

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by aiyoyo 04.11.12 17:02

Isnt the whole point of the Leveson Inquiry about the degree of closeness or intimacy between Cameron and Murdoch/Brooke?

So, how can Judge Leveson justify selective revelation of the SMSes between Cameron and Madame Brooke and still expect to be seen as impartial or having done his fiduciary duty conscientiously to the public by letting the Public know the real situation of the intimacy of Cameron and Brooke; and not after censorship by him.

Censorship by Leveson as to what's relevant and what's not so defeat the purpose of the inquiry which is transparency.

by **PeterMac** 04.11.12 17:05

aiyoyo wrote:Isnt the whole point of the Leveson Inquiry about the degree of closeness or intimacy between Cameron and Murdoch/Brooke?

So, how can Judge Leveson justify selective revelation of the SMSes between Cameron and Madame Brooke and still expect to be seen as impartial or having done his fiduciary duty conscientiously to the public by letting the Public know the real situation of the intimacy of Cameron and Brooke; and not after censorship by him.

Censorship by Leveson as to what's relevant and what's not so defeat the purpose of the inquiry which is transparency.

May we ask who set up the enquiry ?

Ah, yes. I have just remembered.

by aiyoyo 04.11.12 17:22

So which authority or MP is going to call for an inquest into Leveson and his Inquiry?

Leveson was supposed to be independent and non partisan to any political party.

by **PeterMac** 04.11.12 17:36

aiyoyo wrote:So which authority or MP is going to call for an inquest into Leveson and his Inquiry?
Leveson was supposed to be independent and non partisan to any political party.

Yes, but to quote Yes Minister

"It is our job to tell Select Committees the truth and nothing but the truth. But it would be profoundly inappropriate and grossly irresponsible to tell them the whole truth."

by **Tony Bennett** 04.11.12 18:00

aiyoyo wrote:So which authority or MP is going to call for an inquest into Leveson and his Inquiry?

Leveson was supposed to be independent and non partisan to any political party.

It was the intrusion into Milly Dowler's mobile 'phone by News of the World/News International that finally saw the public in utter outrage at how far 'phone hacking had gone.

Something must be done.

So Cameron approached his mate Lord Leveson - they also used to socialise together - to carry out an enquiry.

I doubt if Cameron anticipated it would end up in the humiliation of his 'LOL' text messages with Rebekah Brooks being made public, together with Rebekah's nights at Chequers, and him riding Rebekah's horse which the Chief of the Met Police gave her. No wonder Lord Leveson decided all the cosy Cameron-to-Brooks texts and e-mails were, well, 'irrelevant'.

Irrelevant? Cameron sets up an enquiry into disgraceful behaviour by News International - and then suddenly text messages from Cameron to the Chief Executive Officer of News International are 'irrelvant?'

But is the most potentially embarrassing moment of all (so far) the one where Leveson was forced to ask Rebekah Brooks whether, as reported, she threatened her friend Cameron with 'a week of bad headlines' about Theresa May, his Home Secretary, if he didn't agree immediately to a multi-million pound ~~whitewash~~ Review into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, preferably to be announced on the same date, 12th May 2011, as Dr Kate McCann's book, 'madeleine', was published.

In the pecking order, Rebekah Brooks, with the might of the Murdoch news empire behind her, called the shots - and no mistake.

Cameron crumbled.

And Brooks, a twinkle in her eye, told Leveson that she hadn't theatened her friend Cameron.

With a wink, and a wicked, Jezebel-like smirk, she answered:

"The word I would use is 'persuaded'."

by Guest 04.11.12 20:57

Tony Bennett wrote:
aiyoyo wrote:So which authority or MP is going to call for an inquest into Leveson and his Inquiry?

Leveson was supposed to be independent and non partisan to any political party.
It was the intrusion into Milly Dowler's mobile 'phone by News of the World/News International that finally saw the public in utter outrage at how far 'phone hacking had gone.

Something must be done.

So Cameron approached his mate Lord Leveson - they also used to socialise together - to carry out an enquiry.

I doubt if Cameron anticipated it would end up in the humiliation of his 'LOL' text messages with Rebekah Brooks being made public, together with Rebekah's nights at Chequers, and him riding Rebekah's horse which the Chief of the Met Police gave her. No wonder Lord Leveson decided all the cosy Cameron-to-Brooks texts and e-mails were, well, 'irrelevant'.

Irrelevant? Cameron sets up an enquiry into disgraceful behaviour by News International - and then suddenly text messages from Cameron to the Chief Executive Officer of News International are 'irrelvant?'

But is the most potentially embarrassing moment of all (so far) the one where Leveson was forced to ask Rebekah Brooks whether, as reported, she threatened her friend Cameron with 'a week of bad headlines' about Theresa May, his Home Secretary, if he didn't agree immediately to a multi-million pound ~~whitewash~~ Review into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, preferably to be announced on the same date, 12th May 2011, as Dr Kate McCann's book, 'madeleine', was published.

In the pecking order, Rebekah Brooks, with the might of the Murdoch news empire behind her, called the shots - and no mistake.

Cameron crumbled.

And Brooks, a twinkle in her eye, told Leveson that she hadn't theatened her friend Cameron.

With a wink, and a wicked, Jezebel-like smirk, she answered:

"The word I would use is 'persuaded'."

Sorry Tony, wasn't he reported to have been riding his friend David Brookses horse?

Does the name Simpson still ring a bell around the former Empire?

by Guest 04.11.12 21:29

Portia wrote:
Tony Bennett wrote:
aiyoyo wrote:So which authority or MP is going to call for an inquest into Leveson and his Inquiry?

Leveson was supposed to be independent and non partisan to any political party.
It was the intrusion into Milly Dowler's mobile 'phone by News of the World/News International that finally saw the public in utter outrage at how far 'phone hacking had gone.

Something must be done.

So Cameron approached his mate Lord Leveson - they also used to socialise together - to carry out an enquiry.

I doubt if Cameron anticipated it would end up in the humiliation of his 'LOL' text messages with Rebekah Brooks being made public, together with Rebekah's nights at Chequers, and him riding Rebekah's horse which the Chief of the Met Police gave her. No wonder Lord Leveson decided all the cosy Cameron-to-Brooks texts and e-mails were, well, 'irrelevant'.

Irrelevant? Cameron sets up an enquiry into disgraceful behaviour by News International - and then suddenly text messages from Cameron to the Chief Executive Officer of News International are 'irrelvant?'

But is the most potentially embarrassing moment of all (so far) the one where Leveson was forced to ask Rebekah Brooks whether, as reported, she threatened her friend Cameron with 'a week of bad headlines' about Theresa May, his Home Secretary, if he didn't agree immediately to a multi-million pound ~~whitewash~~ Review into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, preferably to be announced on the same date, 12th May 2011, as Dr Kate McCann's book, 'madeleine', was published.

In the pecking order, Rebekah Brooks, with the might of the Murdoch news empire behind her, called the shots - and no mistake.

Cameron crumbled.

And Brooks, a twinkle in her eye, told Leveson that she hadn't theatened her friend Cameron.

With a wink, and a wicked, Jezebel-like smirk, she answered:

"The word I would use is 'persuaded'."

Sorry Tony, wasn't he reported to have been riding his friend David Brookses horse?

Does the name Simpson still ring a bell around the former Empire?

Ernest, I mean.

by **Tony Bennett** 04.11.12 22:48

Portia wrote:Sorry Tony, wasn't he reported to have been riding his friend David Brooks's horse?

Portia, Mr David Brooks is the husband of...

Mrs Rebekah Brooks.

I daresay they shared their horses as well as their meals together

by Guest 04.11.12 22:55

Tony Bennett wrote:
Portia wrote:Sorry Tony, wasn't he reported to have been riding his friend David Brooks's horse?
Portia, Mr David Brooks is the husband of...

Mrs Rebekah Brooks.

I daresay they shared their horses as well as their meals together

Did he (DC) utter those famour words.....................

A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

by **Nina** 04.11.12 22:59

Tony Bennett wrote:
Portia wrote:Sorry Tony, wasn't he reported to have been riding his friend David Brooks's horse?
Portia, Mr David Brooks is the husband of...

Mrs Rebekah Brooks.

I daresay they shared their horses as well as their meals together

I thought her husband was called Charlie?

by **Tony Bennett** 05.11.12 0:32

Nina wrote:
Tony Bennett wrote:
Portia wrote:Sorry Tony, wasn't he reported to have been riding his friend David Brooks's horse?
Portia, Mr David Brooks is the husband of...

Mrs Rebekah Brooks.

I daresay they shared their horses as well as their meals together

I thought her husband was called Charlie?

I think Portia made a mistake on naming him David Brooks. Yes, it is Charlie Brooks we are talking about.

Charlie Brooks is married to Rebekah.

All the press reports say however that the horse, Raisa, was actually loaned to Rebekah Brooks, not Charlie.

by **PeterMac** 05.11.12 9:00

Tony Bennett wrote:
Charlie Brooks is married to Rebekah.
All the press reports say however that the horse, Raisa, was actually loaned to Rebekah Brooks, not Charlie.

DC had beter remember what happened to the horse !

by Woofer 05.11.12 16:58

Portia wrote:
Portia wrote:
Tony Bennett wrote:
aiyoyo wrote:So which authority or MP is going to call for an inquest into Leveson and his Inquiry?

Leveson was supposed to be independent and non partisan to any political party.
It was the intrusion into Milly Dowler's mobile 'phone by News of the World/News International that finally saw the public in utter outrage at how far 'phone hacking had gone.

Something must be done.

So Cameron approached his mate Lord Leveson - they also used to socialise together - to carry out an enquiry.

I doubt if Cameron anticipated it would end up in the humiliation of his 'LOL' text messages with Rebekah Brooks being made public, together with Rebekah's nights at Chequers, and him riding Rebekah's horse which the Chief of the Met Police gave her. No wonder Lord Leveson decided all the cosy Cameron-to-Brooks texts and e-mails were, well, 'irrelevant'.

Irrelevant? Cameron sets up an enquiry into disgraceful behaviour by News International - and then suddenly text messages from Cameron to the Chief Executive Officer of News International are 'irrelvant?'

But is the most potentially embarrassing moment of all (so far) the one where Leveson was forced to ask Rebekah Brooks whether, as reported, she threatened her friend Cameron with 'a week of bad headlines' about Theresa May, his Home Secretary, if he didn't agree immediately to a multi-million pound ~~whitewash~~ Review into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, preferably to be announced on the same date, 12th May 2011, as Dr Kate McCann's book, 'madeleine', was published.

In the pecking order, Rebekah Brooks, with the might of the Murdoch news empire behind her, called the shots - and no mistake.

Cameron crumbled.

And Brooks, a twinkle in her eye, told Leveson that she hadn't theatened her friend Cameron.

With a wink, and a wicked, Jezebel-like smirk, she answered:

"The word I would use is 'persuaded'."

Sorry Tony, wasn't he reported to have been riding his friend David Brookses horse?

Does the name Simpson still ring a bell around the former Empire?

Ernest, I mean.