Rupert Murdoch Gives Brooks 'Total' Backing

News Corporation boss Rupert Murdoch has expressed his "total" support for News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks.

Mr Murdoch made the comments in the US before leaving for Britain on a scheduled visit after his media empire closed down the News Of The World over the phone hacking scandal.

News Corp is the parent company of NI, which published the newspaper until its last ever edition today .

Mr Murdoch has remained largely silent amid the fallout, issuing one official statement describing the allegations as "deplorable and unacceptable".

However, he spoke briefly to reporters in Sun Valley, Idaho, on Saturday, where he was attending a media conference.

When asked if Mrs Brooks continues to have his support, Mr Murdoch replied emphatically: "Total."

"We already apologised," he said.

"We've been let down by people that we trusted but the result was that the paper let down its readers."

Mrs Brooks has faced calls for her resignation from critics who claim she would have known about phone hacking while she was editor at the NOTW.

But in a letter to MPs , she repeated her assertion that she had "no knowledge whatsoever" of the practice.

Mr Murdoch's son James, the chairman of News International, also backed Mrs Brooks when he announced the closure of the NOTW earlier this week.

"I am satisfied that Rebekah's leadership of this business, her standard of ethics and her standard of conduct throughout her career are very good," he said.