NEW: A protester interrupts Blair, calling the former prime minister a "war criminal" Blair denies being "cozy" with Murdoch, saying he had to beware media baron's power Blair says he became godfather to one of Murdoch's children after he left office London (CNN) -- Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair came under "political pressure" from media baron Rupert Murdoch during his time in office, he testified Monday at an independent inquiry set up in response to phone hacking and alleged police bribery at Murdoch newspapers in Britain. Ex-Cameron aide Coulson testifies at UK hacking inquiry "He didn't lobby me on media stuff," Blair said, adding: "That's not to say that we didn't know what his position was. But the bulk of our conversations were about politics. He confirmed that he was the godfather of one of Murdoch's children, but said that was because his relationship with the media magnate changed once he was no longer prime minister. "I would never have become godfather to one of his children on the basis of my relationship with him while I was in office," he said, but their relations became "easier" after he stepped down in 2007. He briefly addressed his trip to meet Murdoch on Hayman Island in 1995, while he was campaigning to become prime minister, and agreed with his former aide Alastair Campbell that he was "angered" to have to do it. Murdoch's best-selling Sun tabloid famously switched allegiance from the Conservative party to Blair's Labour party before the 1997 election that swept Blair into power. But Murdoch insisted strongly that there had been no quid pro quo with Blair for the support of his papers in 1997. "I, in 10 years in his power there, never asked Tony Blair for any favors and never received any," Murdoch said in April, pounding his hand on the table for emphasis. On Monday, Blair said he believed Murdoch himself made the decisions about who his British newspapers supported, not underlings. He said that as party leader, he had paid a great deal of attention to how the Labour party got its message out, portraying it as a necessary part of contemporary politics. And he said he had decided not to take on the power of the press. I took a strategic decision to manage these people, not confront them. You would have been in a huge battle with no guarantee of winning," he said. Blair's testimony was briefly interrupted by a protester shouting: "This man is a war criminal!" The man identified himself to CNN as David Lawley-Wakelin, who made a documentary film called "The Alternative Iraq Inquiry." He accused Blair of taking money from the bank JP Morgan for the invasion of Iraq, a charge Blair made a point of denying once the protester was removed. It took three security officers to pull him out of the courtroom. The protester appeared directly behind Brian Leveson, prompting the shaken-looking judge to say there would be an immediate inquiry into how the man got into a secure area. The protester appeared to be wearing some kind of pass. CNN Senior International Correspondent Dan Rivers contributed to this report.