Gordon Brown Hits Out At 'Sewer Journalism'

Former prime minister Gordon Brown stood up in the House of Commons to accuse News International of "descending from the gutters to the sewers".

Mr Brown, who allegedly had bank details and family medical records accessed on behalf of News International, added: "The tragedy is they let the rats out of the sewers".

The former PM branded Rupert Murdoch's company "a criminal media nexus" which "claimed to be on the side of the law-abiding citizen" but in fact stood "side-by-side with criminals against our citizens".

He volunteered to give evidence to any inquiry investigating hacking and defended his decision not to set up an inquiry when phone hacking claims resurfaced in 2009.

Mr Brown said: "Already in August 2009 Assistant Commissioner (John) Yates of Scotland Yard had taken only eight hours - less time than he spent dining with the people he should have been investigating - to pre-emptively reject a further police inquiry."

He also claimed official advice warned against an investigation as the illegal practices were not believed to be ongoing and because targeting the News Of The World so close to the election would have seemed "politically-motivated".

The former Labour leader said he had seen the names of other alleged to be victims on the phone hacking scandal which have yet to be made public.

He also defended alleged victims reported so far saying they had "their private and inner most feelings and their private tears bought and sold by News International for commercial gain."

Mr Brown's comments came after Mr Murdoch's News Coporation confirmed it was withdrawing its bid for a majority share in BSkyB.

The decision was welcomed by campaigning MPs who had called for the bid to be scrapped in light of the hacking scandal.

Labour leader Ed Miliband called the U-turn a "victory for people up and down the country."

Mr Miliband added: "People thought it was beyond belief that Mr Murdoch could continue with his takeover after these revelations.

"It is these people who won this victory. They told Mr Murdoch: 'This far and no further'.

"Nobody should exercise power in this country without responsibility."

Downing Street also welcomed the withdrawal.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: "I think this is the right decision. I've been saying that this company clearly needs to sort out the problems there are at News International, at the News of the World.

"That must be the priority, not takeovers."

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: "This is the decent and sensible thing to do.

"Now that the bid has been called off and a proper inquiry set up, we have a once in a generation chance to clean up the murky underworld of the corrupted relationship between the police, politics and the press."

Mark Lewis, the lawyer for Milly Dowler's family, said: "This was never a political thing. This shows actually the power of the public to stand up to something, however big an organisation is, however big, however far-reaching, however worldwide, to stand up and say 'something isn't right'."

Simon Hughes, Liberal Democrat deputy leader, said he had been warning for 17 years about the "dangers" of the growing influence of the Murdoch family in Britain.

He added: "At last the sun is setting on Rupert Murdoch's British empire.

"Journalism in the UK used to have the reputation as the best in the world. It is in the interests of all the public that this reputation is now restored."

Anger about News Corporation's management has also been voiced in the business world.

Speaking on Jeff Randall Live , Terry Smith, the City veteran and founder of the asset manager Fundsmith, called on Rupert Murdoch to stand down as the head of the company.

"I'm definitely saying he shouldn't be running the company actually. I think the judgement I'm making is a business judgement," he said.

"Somebody who's shares have underperformed for 15 years and whose returned a third of what similar companies in the industry are returning in return on capital. At the very least I think shareholders should be allowed to vote on that with one vote one share, don't you?"

Shadow culture secretary Ivan Lewis told Sky News that News Corp's turnaround was a "remarkable moment" which proved that "no organisation is above the law and can write the law".

He also said the events of the past ten days showed politicians that they "first and foremost have a responsibility to the public interest."

Labour MP Tom Watson agreed, saying: "Like everything with this company, they were dragged into it kicking and screaming, they had no choice. When you've got three party leaders united saying withdraw the bid what else could they do?"

In a statement, BSkyB chief executive Jeremy Darroch praised staff at Sky for their continuing focus on the job at hand despite the high-profile bid.

He said: "Over the last year, everyone at Sky has done a great job of staying focused on serving our customers and not getting distracted by all the noise around the bid situation.

"We've been clear that the priority for us is to keep developing our business and build our capabilities. This is a great company with a great future and I want to thank all of you for your continuing support."

:: READ MORE ON THIS STORY...

:: News Corp withdraws bid for BSkyB

:: PM reveals scope and scale of hacking inquiry

:: The Sun fights back over claims they accessed the medical records of Gordon Brown's son.

:: Hacking: Senior cop attacks 'lynch mob' MPs

:: Met under pressure: Analysis of the fierce questioning by the Home Affairs Select Committee