Rebekah Brooks gives evidence - Telegraph 15.46 "It's been a difficult year," she admits, adding: "A lot of the question I've had from Mr Jay focus on the rather trivial side." 15.41 Another spat between Mrs Brooks and Mr Jay. They are referring to part of her statement, mentioning the prominence given to corrections. Mrs Brooks begins: "Today you have put to me quite a few gossipy items..." Mr Jay interrupts: "The same sort of stuff one read in the NotW and continues to read in the Sun." Well we're not in a tabloid news room now, are we? Mrs Brooks snaps back. This is an inquiry. Still referring to the items written about her in the press, particularly in relation to her personal relationship with Murdoch, she adds: I think a lot of it's gender based - if I was a grumpy old man of Fleet Street, no-one would write the first thing about it. I was not complaining. It would be the height of hypocracy to me to mean that. 15.39 "I do have some regrets about the campaign, particularly the list of the convicted paedophiles we put ino the paper. I felt we had made a mistake by going just on an appearance on the sex offenders register, which was not necessarily the right criteria," she admits. 15.31 Mr Jay asks her to respond to the accusation at the time that the Sarah's Law campaign was "grossly irresponsible journalism": I diagreed with it [the accusation] at the time, she says. Why did you need to publish names and photographs, Mr Jay asks. Because it was the point about information. When Sarah Payne went missing, I was surprised that the police team around the inquiry were pretty sure who they thought the perpetrator might be because he was a convicted paedophile living in the community who had just been released. It was news to me that convicted paeodophiles of that serious nature were allowed to live unchecked in the community and parents did not know about it. She mentions America's Megan's law as inspiration behind it. Mr Jay asks about reprisals: "There were two that are written about," Mrs Brooks says "I don't think anyone could have predicted the paediatrician situation. I did not predict there would be a riot in Paulsgrove. I did not predict a member of the public would mistake a paedophile for a paediatrician. Mr Jay is taking Mrs Brooks to task: "It is plain a a pikestaff" that reprisals like this would happen, he says. It was "sensationalised, designed to inflame and designed to improve your standing and the standing of the News of the World," he says. "Mr Jay, you seem to have taken the attitude of the Guardian at the time," Mrs Brooks replies. It is not my view. 15.27 The Inquiry resumes with a more general discussion about ethics. The ultimate responsibility for determining the "public good" lies with the editor, Mrs Brooks agrees. "Not sole responsibility," she adds. An editor's judgment is a big part of their role. Would you regard exposing private weaknesses of public figures as part of that? Not necessarily, no, Mrs Brooks says. Not "when there didn't seem to be a public interest in doing so. There are many stories newspapers haven't run. She gives the example of if there had been no trust broken between them and their constituents. 15.24 Gordon Rayner writes: Jeremy Hunt faces fresh questions over his relationship with News Corporation after an email from its chief lobbyist claimed the Culture Secretary had asked him for "private" advice on the phone-hacking investigation to "guide his and No.10"s positioning." The same email shows that News Corp was given an "extremely helpful" tip-off by Mr Hunt's office that he would refer to phone-hacking in a statement to Parliament. It was released to the Leveson Inquiry by Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of News International, as part of her witness statement to the Inquiry. As well as dragging Mr Hunt further into the row which has already claimed the scalp of his special adviser Adam Smith , the email makes uncomfortable reading for David Cameron, as it suggests his response to the phone-hacking scandal was being guided by the owner of the News of the World. 15.19 Commentators on Twitter have been discussing Mrs Brooks outfit, a rather demure black dress with a Peter Pan collar: 15.16 Lord Leveson has very charitably offered to give the court's shorthand writer a break - we'll be back soon. 15.11 Mrs Brooks now admits she did discuss Sharon Shoesmith with Ed Balls. Did you indicate you wanted her sacked, Mr Jay asks. I did not tell Ed Balls to fire Sharon Shoesmith. It was very obvious from our paper - we had lauched a petition because the government were refusing to do anything about the situation. 15.08 Did the Sun launch an e-petition calling for people to be sacked over the Baby Peter case? Did you phone Ed Balls and tell him to get rid of Sharon Shoesmith or you would "turn this thing on him"? No Did you have any conversation with him about it? I'm sure I did, yes. Was it the Sun's wish for the Sharon Shoesmith to resign? Yes, among others. You have to remember that this is 2006. This is only five years later that Mr Brown had ever said anything that he was in any way concerned about my behaviour, the behaviour of the Sun and how we handled it. After 2006, I continued to see them regularly. I felt that Mr Brown's recollections of that time weren't the same as my own. 15.01 If the Brown's had asked me not to run the story, I wouldn't have done, Mrs Brooks says. With their permission was the "only way" they would have put it in the public domain. 14.59 It appears everyone is watching the Leveson Inquiry; even footballer Joey Barton. He takes a slightly firmer line than Mr Jay: 14.46 Now referring to the "Gordon Brown cystic fibrosis story," as Mr Jay calls it. He reads a Sun story revealing the source of the information was another suffering father, not confidential medical records - this refutes Mr Brown's accusations. At the time we were absolutely satisfied that the father got the information through legitimate means and we were very sure about that. Suggests it came through the involvement with a charity, but will not say any more because she fears it could lead to revealing his identity. Lord Leveson interjects: "Mr Brown was concerned that information he thought was private entered the public domain. He felt that the way that must have happened was that the Sun had got hold of his records in some way. It's not unreasonable view for him to form, is it? "It wasn't something he felt at the time," Mrs Brooks answers. You didn't explain to him how you got it. Is that right? It was right, at the time. Leveson is focusing on the phrase "false and a smear," from the Sun article, suggesting it is unfair: "He's just got it wrong." Mrs Brooks says "I do see the point you're making," but that the context of the article was that Gordon Brown had spoken in the House and did an interview saying that the Sun had got the story from Fraser Brown's medical records. These two attacks, which had never been raised by him in any way shape or form with News International, led the Sun to believe it was a smear: "That he was doing it five years later for a particular reason." It is a terrible accusation for a former Prime Minister to make of a newspaper without being in possession of the facts. 14.44 I never saw any inappropriate conduct relating to the police, she says. 14.43 "The Inquiry has very little interest in the retired police horse," Mr Jay says. But was there any exchange between the work experience ofference to Dick Fedorccio's son and the acquisition of this horse? 14.42 Senior police officers more inclined to go to a neutral location such as a restaurant, whereas politicians preferred to go to Wapping or their offices, she says. 14.39 Meetings with Dick Fedorccio were mainly on the issues of the day, or introducing a new commissioner, she says. We would often ring him with a story. He was in a position to steer us away from it or give us a comment, if it was right. There was an exchange of information. He did not, she clarifies, bring stories into their office. 14.36 We now move onto meetings with the Metropolitan Police. Documents show she did not meet with John Yates after December 2006. "I don't think that's correct, I think I did meet him," says Brooks. We hosted the police bravery awards every year for a start. 14.34 Were you the go-between in an increasingly fraught father-son relationship, Mr Jay asks. No: "They were very happy to speak to each other," she says. Michel emails Mrs Brooks to say Hunt will be making references to phone hacking in his statement on Rubicon later that week. He wants to prevent a public inquiry it says. Michel adds Mr Hunt was starting to look into phone hacking and practices more thoroughly and had asked him to liaise and assist them on how to respond. The Telegraph's Gordon Rayner describes the fact Downing Street wanted News Corp's help on how to respond as a "bombshell." In return, she asked him when the statement would be. At the time I had a lot of my own concerns [had just handed over Harbottle Lewis files]. I obviously got this email, with a million others. I read it at the time and responded to find out when the Rubicon statement was. I think the email and my response speak for themselves really. 14.27 It was naive of me to believe the procedure would have been dealt with properly, she says, adding she had no reason not to believe that until Dr Cable made his comments relating to Sky. 14.23 I don't remember hearing anything from Mr Hunt directly on the bid, Mrs Brooks says. She adds she had conversations with James and Rupert Murdoch to discuss the latest move of the anti-Sky bid alliance (ASB henceforth). I remember having to call Mr James Murdoch when the ASB commissioned a poll throught their PR agency, she says. 14.19 We are now hearing about the Fred Michel emails, relating to the BSkyB bid. In one, it mentions George Osborne's "total bafflement" at the response to an issues letter. This was sent the day after Mrs Brooks had dinner with Osborne, Mr Jay says: My memory of the dinner was that it was a social occasion, Mrs Brooks says. I probably brought it up, I can't remember, but at part of the dinner I would have discussed our frustrations at the time. We did discus it at that dinner; not at any great length. I think it was an entirely appropriate conversation. I was reflecting the opposite view that he had heard from pretty much every member of the anti-Sky alliance. She says it was a three-minute conversation. 14.13 Referring to Fred Michel: I think the truth is at the time of the BSkyB bid, I suppose like most journalists I viewed public affairs and lobbyists with slight scepticism. I often thought Mr Michel overegged his position. However he was doing his job, he was passing on information as lobbyists do. I suppose because as journalists we would have quite direct contact with ministers in the course of our work, I always thought it was slightly strange that he had that level of access. She clarifies: "Not slightly strange; Fred was very good at his job." 14.09 Relating to "discussions" with Cameron and Osborne over BSkyB, I don't remember having a particularly forceful discussion with Mr Cameron on it, although my views were pretty clear. Mr Cameron always made it pertty clear it was a quasi-judicial decision and it wasn't him. I think he had been lobbied by lots of other people. He was always very even-handed about it. He was not particularly supportive of the BSkyB bid, but understood why we wanted to present our view, she says. Osborne never said he supported it explicitly, but he was "interested in our arguments." "They would all say the same thing - it's not my decision," she added. 14.06 Moving on to MP Tom Watson, did you force a Sun journalist to write stories about Mr Watson that he knew were untrue, Jay asks? Did you say something along the lines of "What am I going to do about this Tom Watson"? I may have done Says she did not use the Sun as a method of disparaging politicians she did not like. 14.04 We begin with a discussion about MP Chris Bryant. After he offered a negative opinion of News International, Mr Jay alleges Mrs Brooks told him: "Ah Mr Bryant its dark isn't it, shouldn't you be out in Clapham Common by now?" Mrs Brooks denies it. Mr Jay refers to an "extremely rude" comment from her then-husband Ross Kemp, which Brooks also refutes. 14.03 The Inquiry is now back in session 13.49 Here is a more complete list of Mrs Brooks' meetings wih senior politicians, which she says were from her secretary's diary and "very incomplete." She met or dined with Mr Blair at least 30 times between 1998 and 2007, including three times in June 1998. But Ms Brooks said there were only around three occasions when they dined alone. •After Mr Brown took over as Prime Minister in 2007, they met or dined at least five times including once at the Browns' home. •Ms Brooks recorded one lunch and four dinners with Mr Cameron in 2010, after he had taken power. One was the widely-reported Christmas dinner party at the Brooks' Oxfordshire home on December 23. 13.36 Too many jokes, too little time over on Twitter, where jokes abound on what now appears to be called #LOLgate: 13.33 That moment again: Video footage of Mrs Brooks telling the Leveson Inquiry she had to inform the Prime Minister that LOL means 'Laugh Out Loud' not 'Lots Of Love' 13.30 We now have a list of who will be appearing in front of the Leveson Inquiry next week, including former Home Secretary Jack Straw, spin doctor Alistair Campbell, former cabinet home secretary Lord O'Donnell, Sky news political editor Adam Boulton and former PCC chairman Lord Wakeham. The Press Association writes: Former home secretary Jack Straw will give evidence to the Leveson Inquiry next week as it focuses on relationships between the press and politicians. Mr Straw, who also served as justice secretary, will appear at the inquiry into press standards on Wednesday. The first part of the inquiry, looking at the culture, practices and ethics of the press in general, is moving into its third module, on relationships between the press and politicians. Last week eight Cabinet ministers - including Prime Minister David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt - were granted "core participant" status in the inquiry, giving them the right to see documents and statements in advance. They are all expected to give evidence to the inquiry, as well as former prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Emails released earlier in the inquiry prompted calls for the resignation of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt. The emails, sent by News Corp lobbyist Frederic Michel, led to claims Mr Hunt secretly backed the Murdochs' BSkyB takeover bid. But during opening statements into the third module yesterday, Lord Justice Leveson said he would not be ruling on whether Mr Hunt had breached the ministerial code. Tony Blair's former spin doctor Alastair Campbell, who has already given evidence in a previous module, is to take to the witness box on Monday, along with former cabinet secretary Lord O'Donnell. Sky News political editor Adam Boulton and former PCC chairman Lord Wakeham will appear on Tuesday. On Thursday the inquiry will hear from Sir Harold Evans, editor of The Sunday Times from 1967 to 1981, as well as Peter Oborne, the Daily Telegraph's chief political commentator. It is expected that former prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, as well as Mr Cameron, will give evidence during this module of the inquiry. 13.22 There is now video footage of Mrs Brooks speaking about Mr Cameron's supportive message after she left News International here 13.15 David Cameron is prepared to hand over text messages to Rebekah Brooks he signed off "lots of love" if he is asked for them by the Leveson Inquiry, Telegraph chief reporter Gordon Rayner writes: A spokesman for the Prime Minister said he would "co-operate fully" with the Inquiry, to which he will give evidence in the coming weeks. He has not so far been asked for the communications by Lord Justice Leveson. The onus fell on Mr Cameron to produce the emails and texts after Mrs Brooks told the Inquiry this morning that she does not have copies of the messages, because her access to her work email account was blocked when she resigned as News International chief executive in July last year. Her BlackBerry only had six weeks" worth of texts saved on it, which included one message from Mr Cameron she was unable to open, she said. 13.09 TheTelegraph's Deputy Political Editor James Kirkup says David Cameron's love texts to Rebekah Brooks could mean votes Laugh Out Loud- at his expense Oh dear me. The Leveson Inquiry his heard that David Cameron sometimes signed text messages to Rebekah Brooks with "LOL," which he apparently intended to mean "Lots of Love." Never mind the young-person humour about whether it actually means "laugh out loud" (no, me neither), this is deeply uncomfortable stuff for the PM. In politics, few things are more damaging than ridicule. The real risk to Mr Cameron from his "LOL" texts isn't that voters will think he's been venal or corrupt. It's that they'll think he's been a bit silly. 13.07 You can now see video footage of Rebekah Brooks telling the Inquiry that Rupert Murdoch would speak to her "very frequently": "sometimes it could be every day" 13.06 Michael Deacon has outlined the frustrations of listening to some of the questions posed to Mrs Brooks: This stuff about the influence, if any, of newspapers over their readers is all a bit Media Studies. A lot of these questions could be set on an exam paper. The answers, inevitably, don't tell us very much; they're the sort of question that prompt an "On the one hand... But on the other hand..." type of answer 13.03 The Inquiry is now breaking for lunch, and will resume again at 2pm. 13.02 "Can you understand why it might be a matter of public concern that a very close relationship between journalists and politicians might create certain pressures on the press who have the megaphone and the politicians who have the policy decisions," Lord Leveson asks. Mrs Brooks says she can understand it. 13.01 Michael Deacon writes: No flirtatiousness in the air now. All getting a bit terse and huffy, as if Mrs B and Mr Jay were a couple still simmering over a row about whose fault it was they got lost for half an hour on the drive to Alton Towers 12.58 Mrs Brooks discussed the Human Rights Act with Dominic Grieve, then shadow-Home Secretary at a Shadow Cabinet dinner. He made the legal point that a British Bill of Rights would be very difficult to do. The conversation was quite heated, Mrs Brooks said: "I admired him standing up to his colleagues like that and in the end he's turned out to be correct." Mr Jay tells her she later told Mr Cameron: "You can't have someone like that as Home Secretary, he won't appeal to our readers - move him. and that's what happened." Mrs Brooks denies this. 12.56 Were you part of a strategy of the paper putting pressure on the government with this implied threat, Lord Leveson asks. "The word threats is too strong," Mrs Brooks says. "Persuasion" is a better word, she suggests. The McCanns were deeply upset there hadn't been a review. It seems incredibly unfair they hadn't got this review. So we said we'll join forces with you. Dominic Mohan and his reporters went away and came up with a campaign...to try and convince the government or the Home Secretary that a review would be the right thing to do. When a review was announced, the Sun had won, Mr Jay asks. I think Dominic Mohan said "the McCann's had won" actually, Mrs Brooks says. 12.50 You told Number 10 that unless a review was ordered you would put Theresa May on the front page every day until the Sun's demsnds were met, Mr Jay says. Is that true? Is any part of that true? I did not say that. 12.44 Mr Jay is now moving on to the serialisation of the McCann book. The reason I was involved as chief executive was because it involved two newspapers - the Sunday Times and the Sun - so if you like I did the deal from a corporate point of view. I had always got on very well with Dr McCann and Kate McCann throughout their incredibly traumatic time. In fact, I think if asked they would be very positive about the Sun, actually. In this case I thought Dominic Mohan's idea to run the campaign for a review of Madeleine's case was the right thing to do. My intervention was at that point. I don't think I spoke to Theresa May directly but I'm pretty sure Dominic Mohan may have done. You asked if there as anything else they wanted, Mr Jay says. Gerry McCann said he wanted a UK police review of the case. Do you remember your answer being "is that all?" I think I might have said it more politely, Mrs Brooks said, but "maybe, yes." 12.41 Journalists do try to be empathetic otherwise no-one will tell them anything, Mrs Brooks smiles. I hope to be empathetic in life to people, yes. Some politicians may even be scared of you, Mr Jay ventures. I don't see politicians as these easily scared people. Most of them are pretty strong, ambitious and highly motiviated, so... 12.40 We all have lots of different friends, Mrs Brooks explains: "I don't think I ever forgot I was a journalist and I don't think they ever forgot they were a politician." 12.38 Politicians have wanted access to senior journalists for decades. Mrs Brooks says. You were in possession of a megaphone that would be of use to them, Mr Jay suggests. Politicians were very keen to put their case to me and the team at the Sun because of the large readership, Mrs Brooks insists. 12.36 Brooks was close to Murdoch and he trusted her implicitly, she agrees. "A lot of politicians wanted to put their case to Mr Murdoch," she says. A short but robust exchange: In order to get close to Murdoch, in practice they had to get close to you, Mr Jay says. Why not? Because it's not true. I was the editor of a newspaper with a wide readership with an exceptional percentage of floating voters. I don't think that people ever thought that to get to Mr Murdoch they had to go through me. 12.35 Blair would often complain about our attitude to Europe. Many Home Secretaries would regularly complain about campaigns, Mrs Brooks said: I think that was correct. Our role was to hold them to account of certain issues. 12.34 Mrs Brooks says she was surprised to hear Tony Blair describing the media as a "feral beast." He did not communicate those concerns to her, the Inquiry hears. 12.32 Cherie Blair spoke to her about media coverage: I think Cherie Blair was concerned she felt a lot of her coverage was quite sexist. But she's not the first high-profile female to think that about the UK media. She sometimes felt it was quite cruel and personal about her weight and concentrated on those things rather than her charity work and things she was going to do. 12.29 Never really had a conversation with a politician about the BBC license fee, she says. Can't remember a conversation where they discussed the PCC. 12.19 We are now hearing about the BSkyB deal. You are "extremely well connected to very senior politicians across the range," Lord Leveson says. Wouldn't your view as to how it might work out, how it might play, be of extreme value? It was never quite put in those terms, but I did have an informal role. Mainly after the formation of the - if we can call it that - "anti-Sky bid alliance." That in some ways brought News International into what was a News Corporation transaction. Once they formed that alliance and were using their own news outlets to promote their view and lobby politicians, I suppose I did get involved. But not the deal or the strategy behind it. 12.17 "Lots of love" is already trending on Twitter. As is "Leveson," "LOLgate," "Cameron" and "Laugh Out Loud" 12.16 Mrs Brooks says she has never been to Cameron's home in the countryside. Once George Osborne was present at a dinner at her own. And, as previously mentioned, Elizabeth Murdoch's 40th birthday party at her home. 12.12 Moving on to phone hacking. Around 2010 there was a conversation between Brooks and Cameron about the number of civil cases coming in. He was "probably" concerned it went further than Goodman and Mulcaire. I was a general discussion. I think it had been in the news that day, maybe about the civil cases. He had asked me about it and I responded accordingly. It was not related to concerns about Coulson: "Not in that instance." In any other instance? "No," she says. 12.08 Did not make calls to his constituency home. Did go to private birthday party for him in 2010. 12.07 Cameron would sign his texts "DC," in the main. Occasionally he would sign them off LOL - lots of love - until I told him it meant laugh out loud. And then he didn't sign them off like that any more. Mrs Brooks looks slightly embarrassed at this disclosure. 12.06 How often did you meet with him socially? Three or four times in the first five months of 2010? Did you contact share your opinion after the election debates? Like everybody I felt the first one wasn't very good. But that was it. Did you text other two leaders? I didn't text Gordon Brown no. 12.03 Moving on to text messages with Cameron. Mr Jay asks how frequent they were. Up to a dozen times a day No, thankfully A handful of times a day? It's preposterous. One would hope he would have better things to do. I would text Mr Cameron and vice versa on occassion, like a lot of people. Probably more between Jan 2010 and during election campaign, she says. On average, once a week. This was to do with organisations: meeting up; arranging to speak; sometimes my own personal comment on perhaps a TV debate. 11.57 Mr Jay asks about another conversation Mr Brown had with Rupert Murdoch, mentioned during his evidence. I had similar, not threats made, but similar comments about the Sun abandoning Labour. Hostile comments. So when Murdoch told me his conversation, it didn't surprise me," Mrs Brooks says. What did Mr Murdoch tell you? "Exactly what he told the Inquiry," she confirms. She sums up her conversation with Mr Brown; "Incredibly aggressive and very angry." Mr Jay asks whether she feared Brown would win the election and could harm News International's commercial interests. It didn't occur to me that they [the threats] were real or proper. I just dismissed them I suppose. it didn't occur to me at the time that Mr Brown and his colleagues would devote their time to carrying out those threats. 11.55 Mr Jay mentions Hillsborough as an example of when readers have voted with their feet and not bought the paper. Mrs Brooks adds Princess Diana's death as another. 11.52 "Obviously I'm going to object to prying intrusively," Brooks says. That is not the policy. Your premise was that this was the culture and I was just disputing that I don't think it's fair to say that politicians live in fear of newspapers. They are hugely motivated and ambitious people and they are not scared easily. That's like saying they are afraid of the readership, or the electorate. 11.48 Brown rang Mrs Brooks after the Sun ran a story on a letter he sent to a bereaved mother, whose son had been killed in Afghanistan. The conversation was "quite tense." She said: "It was a private coversation but the tone of it was quite aggressive." Quite rightly he was hurt by the projection nd the headline that had been put on the story. Quite rightly, in his defence, he suspected or thought this may be a way in which the Sun was going to behave. I assured him that it asn't, this was a mistake, the headline was too harsh and this was not the way the paper was going to behave. This refers to a letter Mr Brown had written to a bereaved mother, which had contained spelling mistakes. Says Mr Brown's fears of a personal attack were understandable. The fact that it resulted in such an extraordinarily aggressive conversation shows that it doesn't happen all the time. I remember it very clearly from the nature of it. 11.47 Michael Deacon jokes: Plenty of lunches between Mrs B and David Cameron, but also worth noting that, in September 2010, during the Labour leadership campaign, one Ed Miliband - the self-proclaimed defender of the civilised world against the dark forces of Rupert Murdoch - had lunch with her too. That's the way, Ed! Bring 'em down over a nice chablis! 11.45 Did she speak to Mr Cameron? My main concern was to speak to Mr Brown. I felt it was the right thing to do to speak to Mr Brown before anybody else. What was her motive? General courtesy. I thought it was the right thing to do. Mr Brown and his wife were due to come to a News International party that night and I wanted to get hold of them beforehand. Did you leave a series of messages for Brown and Mandelson? "Series" it too many, but did leave one. Was he [Mandelson] angry or not? "Depending on how you heard it, "chump" could be quite an offensive word. He seemed quite angry, but not surprised. 11.43 We have had a tradition of being bold and dramatic in our politics, Brooks says 11.42 Main responsibility was to readership, Brooks says. We knew there would be certain individuals in the Labour Party who would not be happy with the decision. Trevor Kavanagh, Tom Newton-Dunn, editor Dominic Mohan - the journalists - all involved in decision 11.40 "Please stick to the question Mrs Brooks," Jay chides. Don't give us ancient history. The conversation is becoming increasingly tense. 11.39 The reason for doing it when they did hinged on Mr Brown's party conference speech: The key was that he spent less that two minutes on Afghanistan. We felt that was the right timing in order to distance ourselves," she says. 11.35 Was Cameron told he would be supported within the party conference season? I wasn't there at the drink he had with James Murdoch, but I think they had a discussion over a drink about what we would do, Mrs Brooks says. The conversation was not with David Cameron or his advisors. I was certainly instrumental in it. Ultimately Rupert Murdoch's the boss but I was instrumental in it," she says. But not the driving force. See video of her speaking about it here