-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: July 19, 2007 4:37:22 PM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: British Head of State Needed Hotline to Rupert Murdoch --
Who's In Charge?
Murdoch had a hotline to the PM
in the run-up to Iraq war
By Andrew Grice, Political Editor
Published: 19 July 2007
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2782514.ece
Tony Blair had three conversations with the media magnate Rupert
Murdoch in the nine days before the start of the Iraq war, the
Government has disclosed.
Details of the former prime minister's contacts with Mr Murdoch
have been released under the Freedom of Information Act. After
trying to block disclosure for four years, the Government backed
down in a surprise change of heart the day after Mr Blair resigned
last month.
Requests for information under the Act were submitted by the
Liberal Democrat peer Lord Avebury and The Independent journalist
James Macintyre. An appeal was pending and evidence was about to be
served in a case before an Information Tribunal.
Yesterday the Cabinet Office said there were six telephone
discussions between Mr Blair and Mr Murdoch in 20 months, all at
crucial moments of his premiership. The subject of their calls was
not revealed.
In 2003, Mr Blair phoned the owner of The Times and The Sun on 11
and 13 March, and on 19 March, the day before Britain and the
United States invaded Iraq. The war was strongly supported by
Murdoch-owned newspapers around the world. The day after two of the
calls, The Sun launched vitriolic attacks on the French President
Jacques Chirac. The Government quoted him as saying he would
"never" support military action against Saddam Hussein, a claim
hotly disputed by France.
Mr Blair and Mr Murdoch spoke again on 29 January 2004, the day
after publication of the Hutton report into the death of Dr David
Kelly. Their next conversation was on 25 April 2004, just after Mr
Blair bowed to pressure led by The Sun for him to promise a
referendum on the proposed EU constitution. They also spoke on 3
October that year, after Mr Blair said he would not fight a fourth
general election.
The Cabinet Office also said Mr Blair had three meetings with
Richard Desmond, the proprietor of Express Newspapers, between
January 2003 and February 2004. The Government had said releasing
the information would be prejudicial to the effective conduct of
public affairs, and disclosure of the timing of exchanges with
"stakeholders" could reveal the content of the discussion.
Lord Avebury said: "This is a welcome victory for the cause of
freedom of information. It shouldn't have taken so much time and
effort to extract information that was clearly of great public
interest. Rupert Murdoch has exerted his influence behind the
scenes on policies on which he is known to have strong views,
including the regulation of broadcasting and the Iraq war."
In Alastair Campbell's diaries, published last week, the former
spin doctor described a Downing Street dinner for Mr Murdoch and
his sons, James and Lachlan, in 2002. "Murdoch pointed out that his
were the only papers that gave us support when the going got tough.
'I've noticed,' said TB," Mr Campbell wrote. Lance Price, Mr
Campbell's deputy, called Mr Murdoch "the 24th member of the
[Blair] Cabinet". He added: "His presence was always felt. No big
decision could ever be made inside No10 without taking account of
the likely reaction of three men, Gordon Brown, John Prescott and
Rupert Murdoch. On all the really big decisions, anybody else could
safely be ignored."
Last year, Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner, ruled that
official contacts between Mr Blair and Mr Murdoch should be
disclosed, but other contacts were not if no minute or note was taken.
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