Former UK PM Brown to Appear at Media Ethics Panel Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and current Treasury chief George Osborne are due to testify Monday at the country's media ethics inquiry. Both will be probed on their relationships with Rupert Murdoch's powerful media empire. Brown's was often tense, and he received a roasting in Murdoch newspapers towards the end of his 2007-2010 term in office. Osborne enjoyed warmer relations, and will likely be asked about his role in hiring a former editor of Murdoch's scandal-tarred tabloid News of the World as communications chief for the Conservative Party. The judge-led inquiry was set up last year amid a scandal triggered by revelations that the now-defunct News of the World had practiced large-scale phone hacking. It is examining malpractice in the media and ties between politicians, police and the press.