WHAT RUPERT MURDOCH SAID: BEST OF THE REST
● I welcome the opportunity [to speak at the Leveson inquiry] because I want to put certain myths to bed.
● Don’t take my tweets too seriously.
● I take a particularly strong pride in the fact that we have never pushed our commercial interests in our newspapers.
● The Sun has never been as good as it is today. I couldn’t say the same for its competitors.
● I never interfered with The News of the World I’m sorry to say. I have always been closer to The Sun – it’s a daily paper, there’s a sense of urgency.
● Meetings were typically initiated by the politician or a third party.
● I don’t believe in using hacking or private detectives, it’s a lazy way of reporters doing their job.
● Celebrities need to be looked at. I don’t think people with public responsibilities are entitled to the same privacy as the ordinary man on the street.
● My relationship with Gordon Brown was always warm before he became Prime Minister and after. I only hope it can be repaired.
● Politicians go out of their way to impress people in the press. That’s part of the democratic process, that’s the game.