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| David Cameron acknowledges there may be more Rebekah Brooks texts | David Cameron acknowledges there may be more Rebekah Brooks texts |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| David Cameron has acknowledged in private that he may be sitting on a further cache of emails and texts to and from Rebekah Brooks after a highly selective search was carried out for the Leveson inquiry. | David Cameron has acknowledged in private that he may be sitting on a further cache of emails and texts to and from Rebekah Brooks after a highly selective search was carried out for the Leveson inquiry. |
| The prime minister faced fresh embarrassment over his links with the former News International chief executive as it emerged that only a handful of his communications were searched for the inquiry, set up after the phone hacking scandal. | |
| Cameron's aides looked only for emails and texts related to two specific areas highlighted by the inquiry – News International and BSkyB. | |
| The prime minister believes it is wrong of critics, such as the former Labour Europe minister Chris Bryant, to say that he is sitting on a secret cache of communications because any emails and texts uncovered in the search were handed to the inquiry. But he acknowledges that a wider search may yield more texts and emails between the two. | |
| Cameron faced further discomfort when the Mail on Sunday published a text from Brooks in which she said she had cried twice during his party conference speech. She wrote: "Brilliant speech. I cried twice. Will love 'working together'." | |
| The paper also published a more innocuous text sent by the prime minister to Brooks about a horse he rode in company with her husband Charlie, one of Cameron's oldest friends. "The horse CB [Charlie Brooks] put me on. Fast, unpredictable and hard to control but fun. DC." | The paper also published a more innocuous text sent by the prime minister to Brooks about a horse he rode in company with her husband Charlie, one of Cameron's oldest friends. "The horse CB [Charlie Brooks] put me on. Fast, unpredictable and hard to control but fun. DC." |
| It is understood the texts were handed to the Leveson inquiry by Brooks, as were the texts published by the inquiry in the summer. These revealed that Cameron signed some of his texts to Brooks LOL, although she claimed that this meant "Laugh Out Loud", not "Lots of Love". | |
| Bryant tweeted of the new revelations: "These new texts are the tip of an iceberg." The Mail on Sunday reported that Bryant has claimed to be in contact with a No 10 "mole" involved in searching for the texts and emails who is said to have described them as "salacious". | Bryant tweeted of the new revelations: "These new texts are the tip of an iceberg." The Mail on Sunday reported that Bryant has claimed to be in contact with a No 10 "mole" involved in searching for the texts and emails who is said to have described them as "salacious". |
| Bryant told Cameron in the Commons on Wednesday that there was a "stash" of emails. He said: "There is a stash of embarrassing emails, isn't there? [Former special adviser] Adam Smith had to publish every single one of his emails and ended up resigning. Why will the prime minister not publish all his emails? | |
| "Can he really be a fit and proper person to judge on the future of press regulation if he will not come clean with the British public?" | |
| Cameron declined to respond to Bryant's specific point on the grounds that he is awaiting an apology from him after he broke an embargo to release information from the inquiry to the House of Commons. Cameron said: "There is another rule of the house, which is that if you insult someone in the house, you make an apology. I am still waiting. It is this government who set up the Leveson inquiry and I gave all the information that Leveson requested to that inquiry." | Cameron declined to respond to Bryant's specific point on the grounds that he is awaiting an apology from him after he broke an embargo to release information from the inquiry to the House of Commons. Cameron said: "There is another rule of the house, which is that if you insult someone in the house, you make an apology. I am still waiting. It is this government who set up the Leveson inquiry and I gave all the information that Leveson requested to that inquiry." |
| David Willetts, the universities minister, admitted the texts showed the relationship between politicians and some newspapers was too close. "The purpose of Leveson is to take a step back and see what makes sense and what's the right regime," he told the Sunday Politics show on BBC1. | |
| Willetts added: "The prime minister has always complied with every request for relevant information from Leveson. Now of course we wait and see what Lord [Justice] Leveson proposes. No previous government set up a Leveson." | Willetts added: "The prime minister has always complied with every request for relevant information from Leveson. Now of course we wait and see what Lord [Justice] Leveson proposes. No previous government set up a Leveson." |