Leveson inquiry: Gordon Brown reveals extent of News Corp dealings

FORMER Prime Minister Gordon Brown today denied behaving aggressively towards Rebekah Brooks when he telephoned her expecting an apology for negative coverage, only to be told more was to come.

• Gordon Brown denies declaring war on News International afer The Sun switched its allegiance the Conservatives

Mr Brown told the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics that he was led to believe by Rupert Murdoch that the then News International chief executive would apologise for a series of damaging stories about his handling of Afghanistan.

But when he made the telephone call Mrs Brooks instead told him she had a taped conversation of him apologising to the furious bereaved mother of a soldier about a condolence letter he had sent her that was littered with mistakes.

The former premier also repeated previous denials that he had “declared war” on the Murdoch empire after it decided to switch support to the Conservatives ahead of the last general election.

He said the conversation where he was “alleged to have acted in an unbalanced way” as well as threatening Mr Murdoch “never took place”.

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

The Inquiry was told all telephone conversations with newspaper proprietors would have gone through the Downing Street switchboard, not on mobile phones.

“I would not have known Rupert Murdoch’s phone number,” he added.

Mr Brown spoke to Mr Murdoch on November 10, 2009, over The Sun’s coverage of Afghanistan and also sent him a follow-up email later that day.

He told the Inquiry the newspaper had published a story criticising him for not bowing at the Cenotaph as well as an article about a letter he sent to Jacqui Janes, whose 20-year-old son Jamie, a Grenadier Guardsman, was killed by an explosion.

Mrs Janes had accused him of being “disrespectful” because the message began “Dear Mrs James” and appeared to contain other spelling errors and a visible correction to her son Jamie’s name.

He said he had phoned the media mogul about the coverage but insisted there was “no reference” to the shift in The Sun’s political allegiance during the Labour party conference the previous month.