Rebekah Brooks sent text to David Cameron: 'We're in this together'

PM denies secret deal with Murdoch on BSkyB bid

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14 June 2012

A cringe-making text to David Cameron from Rebekah Brooks today laid bare the cosy relations between the Tory leader and Rupert Murdoch’s lieutenant.

The embarrassing message sent on the eve of his last party conference speech before the 2010 election gushed: “I am so rooting for you tomorrow and not just as a personal friend but because professionally we’re definitely in this together.”

It concluded, with toe-curling enthusiasm: “Speech of your life? Yes he Cam!”

Mr Cameron looked uncomfortable to be reminded of the chummy text when it was disclosed for the first time at the Leveson inquiry into press standards this afternoon.

Only last month the inquiry was told how his own texts to her ended with LOL — by which he erroneously meant “lots of love”. Tantalisingly, the inquiry heard that other texts were not being disclosed because, according to inquiry counsel Robert Jay QC, they were deemed to be “irrelevant”.

During a seven-hour grilling today — only the second time a serving Prime Minister has given evidence to an inquiry on oath — Mr Cameron said he had become personal friends with Mrs Brooks and socialised with her many weekends.

But he strongly denied any “overt or covert” deal to trade policy decisions for flattering coverage.

In other keyevidence today:

Mr Cameron accused former prime minister Gordon Brown of “cooking up a conspiracy theory” that he gave James Murdoch policy pledges for support at the General Election, saying Mr Brown was looking for excuses to “justify his anger” with the Murdochs for withdrawing their support.
He met Rupert Murdoch at least 10 times, James Murdoch 15 times and former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks 19 times. From 2005 he had 1,404 meetings with media figures, which Mr Jay pointed out averaged 26 per month.
He confessed that his decision to hire former News of the World editor Andy Coulson as media chief had “come back to haunt both him and me”. He also contradicted Mr Coulson’s evidence about whether he sought a face-to-face assurance that the latter was not aware of phone hacking at the NoW.

Mr Cameron confirmed that he socialised more and more frequently with Mrs Brooks, who married racehorse trainer Charlie Brooks who lived near his Oxfordshire home. Asked how frequently they met, he said “not every weekend”.

Referring to the Brooks text, Mr Jay asked what she meant by “professionally we’re definitely in this together”. He said: “So you were bound together to some extent?”

Mr Cameron said: “I think what it means is, as she put it, that we were friends, but professionally — me as leader of the Conservative Party and her in newspapers. We were, you know, going to be pushing the same political agenda.”

Hitting back at claim that he did a deal with the Murdochs, the Prime Minister said: “Not only was there no covert deal, there was no overt deal and there wasn’t nods and winks. Policies that I produced that I’m very proud of came from our beliefs, values, my history, my beliefs and they weren’t dictated by anyone else.” He added, scathingly: “We do slightly get into witchcraft trials — how do you possibly prove that you’re innocent?”

He was more angry with Mr Brown, who alleged that there was an explicit deal between him and James Murdoch. He said: “Frankly, it is absolute nonsense, from start to finish. I think where it comes from is obviously Gordon Brown was angry and disappointed that The Sun had deserted him, and as a result, in my view, he has cooked up an entirely specious and unjustified conspiracy theory to try to, I don’t know, to justify his anger.”

On Ed Miliband’s proposals to limit the market share of newspaper proprietors, which would force Mr Murdoch to sell off The Sun or The Times, he said: “A lot of the time it isn’t necessarily the size of the newspaper group, it’s the strength of voice of the paper … I don’t think it is all about market power.”

He finally won the backing of the Sun newspaper in October 2009, months before the 2010 general election. Weeks after polling day, the Murdoch empire announced its £8 billion bid for BSkyB. Recalling when James Murdoch told him over a drink at The George in Mayfair that The Sun would back him, Mr Cameron said: “It was a drink and a catch-up. He was very keen to tell me directly that The Sun was going to support the Conservatives.”

He defended a flying to meet the Murdochs on a yacht off the Greek isle of Santorini in 2008: “Obviously I was trying to win over his newspapers and put across my opinions.”

Rebekah's texts

9 October 2009

(First line of the text not disclosed but was described as humorous)

“… But seriously, I do understand the issue with The Times. Let’s discuss over country supper soon. On the party, it was because I had asked a number of NI people to Manchester post-endorsement and they were disappointed not to see you. But as always Sam was wonderful (and I think it was OE’s that were charm personified!) I am so rooting for you tomorrow and not just as a personal friend but because professionally we’re definitely in this together. Speech of your life? Yes he Cam!”

Cameron’s reaction to the text when questioned at the inquiry

“The issue of The Times was, at the party conference I had not been to The Times party… and I was apologising for that, and that would explain her disappointment, as it were, if that helps,” he said.

He said he thought Brooks’s phrase “professionally we’re definitely in this together” referred to The Sun’s decision to back the Conservatives: “We were, you know, going to be pushing the same political agenda.”