Phone hacking scandal deepens

[Jan Klimkowski]

So, it's a sham.

Just have a confidential conversation, a nod and a wink, and rule entire swathes of evidence involving key players inadmissible.

Must keep the dirty secrets, ahem, secret.

Private emails between David Cameron and the former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks have been withheld from the Leveson Inquiry after the Prime Minister sought personal legal advice, The Independent can reveal.
The cache of documents, which runs to dozens of emails and is also thought to include messages sent to Andy Coulson while he was still a Rupert Murdoch employee, was not disclosed after No 10 was advised by a Government lawyer that it was not "relevant" to the inquiry into press standards.
The contents of the private emails are described by sources as containing "embarrassing" exchanges. They hold the potential to cast further light on the close personal relationship between the Prime Minister and two of the media mogul's most senior lieutenants.
However Mr Cameron, as part of legal briefings he received before and after his appearance before the inquiry, was said to have been advised that the Brooks-Coulson emails were outside Sir Brian Leveson's remit and so he did not need to offer them up to form part of his report, expected to be published next month.

Meanwhile, Rupert handsomely rewarded his child protege:

Rebekah Brooks's News International severance deal worth 'about £7m'

Payoff package for the former News International executive is far in excess of the £1.7m speculated on after her departure

Dan Sabbagh and Patrick Wintour

The Guardian, Tuesday 16 October 2012


Rebekah Brooks received a payoff worth about £7m after resigning as chief executive of News International at the height of the Milly Dowler phone-hacking crisis in July 2011.

The exact figure has never been disclosed by the Murdoch company whose parent News Corporation holds its annual meeting on Tuesday but one source said they believed it was between £6m and £8m.

An intimate of Rupert Murdoch, Brooks started out as a secretary at the News of the World in 1989, becoming editor of the News of the World and the Sun in succession.

She retained Murdoch's confidence as the phone hacking crisis intensified. After the News Corp patriarch flew into London in July last year, he took Brooks out for dinner, declaring that she was his "top priority" when questioned in the street by journalists.

The payoff package, far in excess of the £1.7m that was speculated about after her departure, comprised cash payments for loss of service, pension enhancement, money for legal costs, a car and an office.

News International declined to comment on the sum involved, but company insiders stressed there were "clawback" arrangements, which mean Brooks would have to pay some of the money back in certain circumstances.

It is understood that payback would be enforceable if Brooks was to be found guilty of a criminal offence relating to her employment. She is currently facing charges relating to interception of communications and obstruction of justice.