Rupert Murdoch flies into London as five Sun journalists arrested over alleged corruption There was inevitably speculation that Mr Murdoch may choose to either shut down the The Sun - as he did with the News of the World - or else try to sell it. One Sun insider said last night: "I do think it is entirely possibly they will close The Sun. It is very clear Rupert Murdoch has turned his back on them. They are being thrown to the lions. Chris Bryant, the Labour MP whose questioning in parliament in 2003 of The Sun's then editor Rebekah Brooks first exposed News International's illegal payments to police, said: "If you follow the logic of what happened at the News of the World, the same logic should apply to The Sun which means it will have to close or come under new ownership." News Corporation, News International's parent company, said in an official statement it was committed to stamping out "unacceptable news gathering practices by individuals carried out in the past." A News Corp source said there were no plans to close The Sun, which Mr Murdoch bought in 1969 and turned into Britain's biggest selling daily newspaper. The source said: "The circumstances now are very different to when he shut down the News of the World in the summer. The level of public outcry over the hacking of Milly Dowler's phone meant continuing with that newspaper was not the right thing to do. Here we are in very different circumstances. News International's chief executive Tom Mockridge said in a memo to staff on Saturday: "You should know that I have had a personal assurance today from Rupert Murdoch about his total commitment to continue to own and publish The Sun newspaper." The arrests marked the first time the armed forces have been drawn into the growing News International bribery scandal. A 36 year-old "relatively senior" serving officer, and his wife, 39, who works for the Ministry of Defence, were arrested at their home in Wiltshire. They were questioned over misconduct in a public office and conspiracy. It is not known which branch of the forces the man serves in, or what role his wife holds. The couple, who have not been named, were among eight people arrested yesterday by Scotland Yard's Operation Elveden, set up to investigate illegal payments to police officers in a move suggesting it is now focusing on a wider range of alleged illegal activity than just payments to police officers and is now including money possibly given to other officials. A 39 year-old who is an officer with Surrey Police was also arrested. The five journalists from The Sun are believed to be Geoff Webster, the newspaper's deputy editor, John Kay, the former chief reporter who joined the title in 1974 and more recently described himself as an "ambassador" for the paper, Nick Parker, the chief foreign correspondent, John Edwards, the picture editor, and John Sturgis, the deputy news editor. Detectives searched The Sun newsroom in Wapping, east London, for evidence and the homes of the eight, all arrested under the under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906. The widening of the investigation by Operation Elveden was prompted by detectives trawling 300 million individual email messages from the archives of The Sun and the News of the World newspapers. They were given access to them by News International's Management and Standards Committee (MSC), set up last summer to handle the company's response to the investigation into allegations of phone-hacking on a massive scale at the now defunct News of the World. As many as 100 people, including forensic accountants, computer experts and lawyers, are working for MSC, combing through emails and accounts. Scotland Yard has allocated 120 officers and staff to Operation Elveden and related investigations into phone and computer hacking. A source close to the MSC said: "It is a very sad and very unfortunate day. The management committee is committed to getting to the bottom of this problem and making sure the journalism at News International newspapers is done in full compliance with the law. When then Sun editor Rebekah Brooks appeared in front of a Commons committee in 2003, she was asked by Labour MP Chris Bryant about payments to police. Allegations of alleged police payments are based on a series of emails passed by News International to the law firm Harbottle & Lewis, shortly after Clive Goodman, the News of the World's royal reporter was jailed for phone hacking in 2007. That file was passed to the police only in June last year, prompting accusations of a widespread cover-up at a very senior level of illegal payments. Operation Elvden, which is commanded by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers has now arrested 22 suspects, including Mrs Brooks, who is now on police bail. But there is growing concern over the investigation. Mark Stephens, the media lawyer said: "I am concerned that in the longer term this will have a chilling effect on journalists and their sources, not just at News International but at all titles," he said. The police are effectively working towards criminalising the relationship between the media and their sources, and that is a bad thing for democracy in the United Kingdom. In November, Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Metrolopitan Police Commissioner, said the inquiry into News International had cost £3 million in salaries alone, adding: "There is an issue for society about how far we pursue some investigations but we are not there yet." The arrests come after four current and former Sun executives, all closely associated with Miss Brooks, were arrested two weeks ago. The four - Fergus Shanahan, 57, who was Mrs Brooks' deputy during her editorship of the Sun from 2003 to 2009, Graham Dudman, 49, former managing editor, Chris Pharo, 42, head of news and Mike Sullivan, 48, the paper's long-serving crime editor - are currently on bail and have been suspended from work. The Sun was last night expected to suspend the other arrested men.