I never tried to scheme against Tony Blair or Rupert Murdoch, says Gordon Brown Mr Brown said he "hoped" none of his aides had ever tried to oust ministers from the Goverment and there was "no evidence" they ever tried to do so. A number of senior politicians have said Mr Brown and his accolytes were trying to get rid of them. Mr Blair believed a cabal around Mr Brown was plotting to oust him at the height of the London terror attacks in 2006. He has described working with the former Prime Minister as like "having dental treatment without anaesthetic." However, Mr Brown said he considered Mr Darling a "friend" and would never have tried to get him removed. The former Prime Minister did admit he was warned by civil servants and other MPs about the activities of one adviser, Damian McBride. Mr McBride was later forced to resign as a key political adviser over emails showing he wanted to smear top Conservatives. Mr Brown faced questions about his own behaviour when asked whether he had ever "threatened" the Murdoch media empire. The former Prime Minister admitted he spoke to Mr Murdoch on the phone in early November 2010 to complain about The Sun's coverage of the war in Afghanistan. But he denied earlier evidence by Mr Murdoch that there was an angry call between the two men after The Sun withdrew its support for the Labour Party. The call did not happen, the threat was not made. News Corporation immediately released a statement saying Mr Murdoch "stands by his evidence." The former Prime Minister said he was more concerned about The Sun's suggestions that he had disrespected troops by failing to bow at a cenotaph and sent a letter to the mother of a dead soldier littered with mistakes. He admitted trying to get Mr Murdoch to stop these "personal" attacks but denied being "obsessed" with the newspapers. "You may say I'm so obsessed by the newspapers that I barely read them, so I have to tell you that, not even in Downing Street, I didn't spend a great deal of time reading newspapers at all," he said. Geoffrey Robinson, a former Treasury minister under Mr Brown, yesterday said the ex-leader was actually "very aware" of the press. "He chose his words very carefully there, he's under oath," Mr Robinson said. Gordon was acutely aware of the press and he is still now. If he gave an impression to the contrary that would be wrong. The idea that he read newspapers all the time... nobody has time to do that. He was very aware of the power of the press and very acutely aware of the need to have a press. He made very clear the trouble he went to phoning editors all the time. He must have known what they were going to do, was trying to influence what they were going to do. It was quite proper that any prime minister would. Mr Brown said meetings with newspaper editors were his "duty" and defended the need for a free press. But he said newspapers sometimes went too far, especially when The Sun published a story about his son suffering from cystic fibrosis. Mr Brown said a Scottish hospital has now apologised for an employee leaking details of his son's medical condition, undermining The Sun's claims that it learned of the story from the father of a fellow sufferer. He said The Sun had also not been "honest" when saying Mr Brown and his wife gave it permission to run the story. However, he admitted his wife continued to be friendly with Rebekah Brooks, the former editor of The Sun and News International boss. He said Mrs Brown helped arranged a 40th birthday party for the newspaper executive at Chequers, the Prime Minister's official residence, because she was a "forgiving" person. The Inquiry also ordered a text message from Mrs Brooks to Mrs Brown to be handed over as evidence. In the text, Mrs Brooks made it clear she was unhappy that Tom Watson, a Labour minister and critic of phone-hacking at News International, was still in his job. Mr Brown later warned Mr Watson he was under pressure from the newspaper company to get rid of him. Asked how the media could be improved, the former Prime Minister said daily briefings with official Downing Street spokesmen could be on camera and more journalists should be allowed to attend.