Email revealed: Tony Blair's advice to Rebekah Brooks on phone-hacking trial

Rebekah Brooks has recently been formally cleared of one count of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office.

17:08 20 February 2014

Former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks apparently received advice from Tony Blair six days after she was arrested in connection with phone-hacking scandal. The court was told that she spoke to the former prime minister and passed on what he said to James Murdoch, then News International executive chairman.

During the exchange of email, she assured Mr Murdoch that there was no indication that the News of the World had suffered from a sales boycott on its final weekend.

Her email read: "I had an hour on the phone to Tony Blair.

"He said:

"1. Form an independent unit that has an outside junior counsel, Ken Macdonald [former director of public prosecutions], a great and good type, a serious forensic criminal barrister, internal counsel, proper fact checkers etc in it. Get them to investigate me and others and publish a Hutton-style report.

"2. Publish part one of the report at same time as the police closes its inquiry and clear you and accept shortcomings and new solutions and process and part two when any trials are over.

"3. Keep strong and definitely sleeping pills. Need to have clear heads and remember no rash short-term solutions as they only give you long-term headaches.
"4. It will pass. Tough up.

"5. He is available for you, KRM [Rupert Murdoch] and me as an unofficial adviser but needs to be between us. He is sending more notes later."

Meanwhile, Mr Blair’s office had issued a statement saying that he was simply giving informal advice over the phone.

"He made it absolutely clear to Ms Brooks that, though he knew nothing personally about the facts of the case, in a situation as serious as this it was essential to have a fully transparent and independent process to get to the bottom of what had happened.

"That inquiry should be led by credible people, get all the facts out there and that if anything wrong were found there should be immediate action taken and the changes to the organisation made so that they could not happen again."