Blair facing Leveson quiz today over claims he did commercial favours for political support

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Blair facing Leveson quiz today over claims he did commercial favours for political support

May 28th, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

Will focus on whether he ‘cut deal’ with Rupert Murdoch

By
Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED:

18:55 EST, 27 May 2012

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UPDATED:

18:56 EST, 27 May 2012

Conflict of interest? Former Prime Minister Tony Blair will be quizzed at the Leveson inquiry today over claims he did commercial favours for Rupert Murdoch in return for political support from his newspapers

Tony Blair will be grilled today over whether he did commercial favours for Rupert Murdoch in return for political support from his newspapers.

The former prime minister is due to face a full day of interrogation at the Leveson Inquiry over his courting of the billionaire media mogul.

Questioning is expected to focus on claims that he ‘cut a deal’ with Mr Murdoch in return for support from the Sun newspaper at the 1997 election.

He is also likely to be asked about his decision to act as godfather to Mr Murdoch’s daughter Grace.

In 1995 Mr Blair flew to Hayman Island, in Australia, to speak at a News Corporation conference.

The decision was widely seen as an attempt to curry favour with the media mogul, whose newspapers had given Labour years of hostile coverage.

By the time of the 1997 election the Sun, which had subjected Neil Kinnock to brutal coverage at the previous election, had switched to become an enthusiastic cheerleader for New Labour.

As part of the courtship, Mr Blair wrote an article for the Sun in 1997 entitled ‘Why I love the pound’, despite later pressing for Britain to join the euro.

Lance Price, a press aide to Mr Blair both in opposition and in Downing Street, said there had been a pact between News International and new Labour.

In a book on his time with Mr Blair he wrote: ‘A deal had been done, although with nothing in writing.’

Interrogation: Questioning is expected to focus on claims that he 'cut a deal' with Mr Murdoch (left) in return for support from the Sun newspaper at the 1997 election

Interrogation: Questioning is expected to focus on claims that he ‘cut a deal’ with Mr Murdoch (left) in return for support from the Sun newspaper at the 1997 election

The claim was denied by both ex-spin chief Alastair Campbell and former business secretary Lord Mandelson when they gave evidence to the inquiry.

Lord Mandelson said it was ‘arguably the case… that personal relationships between Mr Blair, (Gordon) Brown and Rupert Murdoch became closer than was wise’, but denied there was any ‘Faustian pact’ involving commercial concessions for Mr Murdoch.

Mr Blair is also likely to face embarrassing questions over his attendance at the baptism of Mr Murdoch’s youngest daughters Grace and Chloe in 2010.

Mr Blair is said to have donned white robes to attend the ceremony on the banks of the River Jordan.