Leveson Inquiry: former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown accuses both Rebekah Brooks and Rupert Murdoch of lying under oath to the inquiry!

Dear All

The Leveson inquiry has produced some good copy for the press and blogshere, Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown took to the witness box to give his evidence, and raise a few eyebrows in the process.

Brown has accused media mogul Rupert Murdoch and former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks of lying under oath.

The former Prime minister said they lied about him when they gave their evidence to the Leveson inquiry on media standards.

Gordon Brown is still bitter about how The Sun turned on the Labour Party and him; he has a personal score to settle from when NHS Fife admitted one of its staff probably leaked a story to the Sun about his son Fraser’s medical condition.

He said it was not true that he had willingly given permission for the newspaper to print the story about his son’s condition.

Rebekah Brooks had claimed otherwise in her evidence and she has also has enough trouble of her own at present with phone hacking.

Brooks told the inquiry on 12 May she had been given “express permission” by the Browns to run the story about their son’s medical condition.

Let’s hope she can substantiate those claims with evidence.

Another point made by Brown was that Rupert Murdoch was wrong when the tycoon said he had called him to declare “war” on his business.

Yesterday Brown said regarding his son:

“We were presented with a fait accompli. There was no question of us giving permission for this – implicit or explicit.”

When Murdoch popped up at the Leveson inquiry on 24 April, Mr Murdoch described an angry telephone call from Mr Brown when the Sun switched allegiance from Labour in 2009.

Mr Murdoch claimed the then prime minister had “declared war on News Corp”, adding: “I don’t think Brown was in a balanced state of mind.”

But Mr Brown yesterday said the conversation “never took place”.

Brown said:

“I’m shocked and surprised that it should be suggested, even when there is no evidence of such a conversation.”

The way things are turning out this looks like a circus, and very few people will be enjoying the performance.

One can wonder if at the end of Leveson where the claims of people lying under oath will be investigated and charges brought forward by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Could this be the case?

Well look at the Tommy Sheridan experience as a rule of thumb.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University