Leveson Inquiry: Brooks lays bare close ties to UK PM Cameron

Cosy texts from David Cameron, private dinners with Tony Blair….

As a powerful newspaper executive, Rebekah Brooks was courted for years by the UK’s political elite.

The ex-News of the World editor has laid bare her links to the top at an inquiry into press ethics.

When she was forced to quit her job in Rupert Murdoch’s media empire in July 2011 over a phone hacking scandal, she claims Prime Minister Cameron commiserated.

“I received some indirect messages from Number 10, Number 11, Home Office, Foreign Office,” Brooks told the Leveson Inquiry in London.

“So you’re talking about Secretaries of State, the Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer, obviously, aren’t you Mrs. Brooks?” she was asked by counsel to the inquiry, Robert Jay QC.

“And also people who worked in those offices as well,” Brooks replied.

The News of the World closed amid claims it hacked into the voicemails of public figures and a murdered schoolgirl. A criminal investigation is ongoing. Brooks denies any wrongdoing.

Her testimony also revealed how she lobbied ministers for the approval of a major takeover bid, further fuelling claims that the Murdoch press had undue influence on policy.

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