British police have arrested Rebekah Brooks of the Murdoch media empire.
From Al Jazeera:
Brooks quizzed in phone hacking probe
Former News International chief executive questioned by police as UK’s top policeman quits over phone hacking scandal.
Last Modified: 18 Jul 2011 00:43
Rebekah Brooks, the former head of media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper wing, has been released on bail after being questioned over the phone-hacking scandal.
British police arrested the 43-year-old Brooks earlier on Sunday as part of an investigation into allegations of illegal voicemail interception and police bribery.
This video from Britain is called Dowler Lawyer Mark Lewis ‘The Timing of Rebekah Brooks Arrest Stinks’.
From British daily News Line today:
BROOKS ARRESTED! – ‘TIMING STINKS’ SAYS DOWLER FAMILY LAWYER
Brooks is due to appear before the House of Commons Culture and Media Committee tomorrow. The lawyer for murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler’s family said the timing of the arrest ‘stinks’.
Mark Lewis said: ‘The arrest was made by appointment. One has to ask when the appointment was made because obviously Mrs Brooks has said she is due to appear before the select committee on Tuesday.’
He added: ‘Undoubtedly she will have the opportunity on Tuesday at the select committee to say I’m sorry I can’t answer that because of the fact I am under police investigation.’
He said: ‘One has to ask the police when that appointment was made.’
He insisted: ‘The timing stinks. It gives the impression that questions can’t be answered.’
Commentators were saying yesterday that Brooks’ arrest was a case of the police getting their own back over allegations of Commissioner Paul Stephenson’s relations with ex-News of the World executive editor Neil Wallis.
Home Office minister James Brokenshire said yesterday that Home Secretary Theresa May is planning to make a statement to parliament today about the relationship between the Met Police and Chamy Media, the firm run by Wallis, who was also arrested last week.
Brokenshire said that May ‘does have some concerns still in relation to the Metropolitan Police’s relationship with Chamy Media’.
Murdoch’s Sunday Times reported yesterday that Met Commissioner Stephenson and his wife accepted 20 nights on full board, free, at luxury health spa Champneys as he was recuperating from hospital treatment earlier this year.
Stephenson says he was unaware that the Champneys publicist was Neil Wallis.
Shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, told the Andrew Marr show: ‘There is a cloud created over the Met as a result of this. And I do think both the Met leadership and also the home secretary need to take some action now.
‘She should be demanding full disclosure. She should be setting out what action the Met needs to take in order to restore that confidence.’
Britain’s senior police officer, Sir Paul Stephenson, was forced to resign following the exposure of corrupt relations between Rupert Murdoch’s media empire and the London Metropolitan Police: here.
Arrest of Rebekah Brooks takes hacking probe one step closer to the Murdochs: here.
The Tommy Sheridan trial and the Murdoch criminal empire: here.
Rupert Murdoch’s media empire has had a “dangerous” influence on British politics and must be broken up, Labour leader Ed Miliband urged: here.
Parliament set to be recalled as Cameron’s Coulson links face fresh scrutiny: here.
Rupert Murdoch, a Secret Chomskyite? How Marxism is Influencing the News of the World Phone Hacking Scandal: here.
Related articles
- Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson to face fresh charges (guardian.co.uk)
- Brooks, Coulson Charged in News Corp. Tabloid Bribe Probe (bloomberg.com)
- Rebekah Brooks leaves News International with £10.8m payout (dailyrecord.co.uk)
- Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson appear in court accused of making corrupt payments to public officials (dailymail.co.uk)
- Rebekah Brooks gets £10.8m payoff (bbc.co.uk)
- Rebekah Brooks took £10.8m compensation from News Corp (guardian.co.uk)
- Session Update: Rebekah Brooks Found (ncscnews.wordpress.com)
- Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson among five charged amid corrupt payments investigation (scotsman.com)
- Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks face charges over payments to officials (guardian.co.uk)
- Phone Hacking: New Texts Between Rebekah Brooks, David Cameron Released (huffingtonpost.com)
Dear Kitty. Some blog 
MPs likely to be recalled over hacking
PA
David Cameron today signalled that parliament’s summer break would be delayed after Britain’s top police officer became the latest casualty of the phone hacking scandal.
The Prime Minister said the Commons was likely to sit on Wednesday so he could “answer any questions that may arise”.
But, in the wake of Sir Paul Stephenson’s bombshell resignation as Met Police commissioner yesterday, he denied there was any comparison to be made with his own position and defended his decision to visit Africa while the crisis raged.
Speaking at a joint press conference with South African president Jacob Zuma in Pretoria, Mr Cameron said: “I think it right for Britain to be engaged with South Africa and to be engaged with Africa as a whole.
“There is a huge opportunity for trade, for growth, for jobs, including jobs at home in the UK.
“I think it is right for the British prime minister to be out there with British businesses trying to drum up exports and growth that will be good for both our countries.”
Mr Cameron added: “The situation in the Metropolitan Police Service is really quite different to the situation in the Government, not least because the issues that the Metropolitan Police are looking at, the issues around them, have had a direct bearing on public confidence into the police inquiry into the News of the World and indeed into the police themselves.”
Mr Cameron’s defence came after Sir Paul announced his departure, admitting that the furore over his links with former News of the World deputy editor Neil Wallis risked damaging the Met.
However, the commissioner also delivered a barb at Mr Cameron by suggesting his decision to hire Mr Wallis as a media adviser was less controversial than the appointment of the newspaper’s former editor Andy Coulson as Downing Street communications director.
The Prime Minister told the press conference today: “For my part what I would say is that we have taken very decisive action. We have set up a judicial inquiry that can look at all aspects of these issues.
“We have helped to ensure a large and properly resourced police investigation that can get to the bottom of what happened, and wrongdoing, and we have pretty much demonstrated complete transparency in terms of media contact.”
Mr Cameron said he had already answered questions “at length” over the issues surrounding Mr Coulson and phone hacking.
“There are of course important issues today with the Home Secretary’s statement. There will also be select committee hearings on Tuesday,” he said.
“I think it may well be right to have parliament meet on Wednesday so I can make a further statement updating the house on the final parts of this judicial inquiry and answer any questions that may arise from what is being announced today and tomorrow.”
It is the second time in a fortnight that Mr Cameron’s foreign trips have been disrupted by the phone hacking row, after he was questioned in Kabul about revelations that murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler’s mobile had been interfered with.
The trip to Africa has already been cut short so he can be on hand to deal with the continuing scandal.
Meanwhile, pressure increased on the Yard’s Assistant Commissioner John Yates today after it was claimed he had responsibility for vetting Mr Wallis’s appointment.
The Met Police Authority’s (MPA) professional standards committee is expected to consider the allegations facing the senior officer at a meeting later.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/mps-likely-to-be-recalled-over-hacking-2315611.html
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