Leveson Inquiry: Gordon Brown denies threatening to destroy Rupert Murdoch empire after Sun fallout

GORDON Brown has denied threatening to “destroy” News International during a phone call to Rupert Murdoch after the Sun switched its allegiance to the Conservatives.

Lawyers acting on behalf of the former Labour prime minister read a letter to the Leveson Inquiry, claiming that former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie’s claims about such an incident were “untrue”.

Giving evidence last week, Mr MacKenzie confirmed what he had told a Leveson Inquiry seminar in October – that Mr Murdoch had described Mr Brown “roaring” down the phone at him after the Sun overshadowed his 2009 Labour Party conference speech by deciding to endorse Tory leader David Cameron at the next election.

Mr Brown was alleged to have told the NI chief: “You are trying to destroy me and my party. I will destroy you and your company.” But Mr Brown rejected the claims as false.

“The story is completely untrue,” his lawyers wrote. “It is important it does not become accepted as fact.” Their letter went on: “Mr Brown has a clear recollection of the calls he had with Mr Murdoch when he was prime minister. He had no such conversation with Mr Murdoch at any time during the conference.

“Thus the words attributed to him by Mr MacKenzie were not said by him to Mr Murdoch, and the statement attributed to Mr Murdoch by Mr MacKenzie is likewise factually wrong. The account is not an accurate reflection of events.” Mr MacKenzie’s “hearsay statement” was not tested as to its reliability or credibility in the inquiry, the lawyers added.

The Sun’s switch to the Conservatives was announced on 30 September, 2009, under the headline “Labour’s lost it”. It came 12 years after former prime minister Tony Blair successfully wooed the newspaper into supporting Labour.

Meanwhile, the editors of the Daily Mirror and the Sunday Mirror have conceded that phone hacking might have occurred at their newspapers. The Leveson Inquiry into press standards heard that the interception of voicemail could have taken place in the newsrooms of both of the tabloids.

Richard Wallace, who has edited the Daily Mirror since 2004, said the practice may have taken place without his knowledge.

But he insisted that there were “significant positives” in tabloid journalism and he was confident that reporters at the newspaper act within the code of practice.

Counsel to the inquiry David Barr asked Mr Wallace if he knew about hacking at the paper. “Not to my knowledge,” replied Mr Wallace. But he did concede it was possible that a story the newspaper ran about Sven-Goran Eriksson’s affair with Ulrika Jonsson in 2002 might have come from the interception of voicemail messages.

Mr Wallace, who has worked at the paper for more than two decades, said the tip about the story came from the showbusiness department, adding: “I can’t even recall who actually put the story forward, to be honest.”

Mr Barr asked: “Is it possible, even if you weren’t told, that it was phone hacking?”

Mr Wallace replied: “It’s possible, yes.”