mr. gordon brown, but you made a specific point against you and your party and you have the opportunity to deal with it. he put it to be fair to him, higher than implying to you and he was an express deal that you made with either rupert or james murdoch to follow the line of tag efforts new to trim back the bbc in exchange for news international supporting your party. and i invite you to respond to it genuinely. >> it is john sense from start to finish. where it comes from is that the son desserted him and as a result in my view he cooked up a speechless and unjustified theory to try to justify and look through the individual parts of policy that he points to. in almost every case, it is complete nonsense to take a couple of examples. it is the government that and he makes a point of taking on the product placement. that started the process of changing the rules on the product placement under his oversight. i argued before, he is not the same as james murdoch. i support the license fee. it is complete nonsense. there was no covert deal or nods and winks. there was a conservative politicia

mrs. brooks was close to gordon brown. his wife, but, in fact, she was very friendly with tony blair and less well disposed to gordon brown? >> i think she was pretty friendly with all of them. i remember some strong arguments when i would be berating the government, and she would be standing up pretty vigorously for gordon grown. brown. >> when did you sense that mrs. brooks would be disposed to supporting you and your party, approximately when? >> i can't really put a date on it. i think the as i say, there was a growing picture of disenchantment with the government. the conservative party was i think, getting its act together looking more like a credible government, and it was a process. we had some strong allies as it were. i don't want to ruin his career, but kavanaugh on "the sun," i felt he was someone, you know, who thought that labour government was getting it wrong, lots of things he didn't agree with about what i was going, but i always felt he was a potential ally for pointing out that "sun" readers were moving

mr. brown. >> right. thank you. mr. brown, thank you very much, indeed. >> all rise. [inaudible conversations] >> be about a one hour break now as we hear the testimony of former british prime minister gordon brown in the british investigation into politicians and the media. we are expecting more from mr. brown after the break. later today, chancellor of the exchequer george osborn will answer questions, and we'll return to live coverage at the time. actually this afternoon we will hear from the chancellor of the exchequer george osborne himself and not from prime minister tbor done brown. -- gordon brown. a little later this week a number of political figures are expected at the table, including john major, labour party leader ed millibland and -- miliband and ed clegg. we'll have live coverage of that all this week here on c-span2. >>> as this break continues, opening remarks from earlier today with former prime minister gordon brown. >> may i call this morning's witness, the right honorable gordon brown, please? >> thank you very much. [inaudible conversations] >> i swear by almighty god that the evidence i shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. thank

mr. brooks was close to gordon brown. it wouldn't be perhaps fairer to say that she was close to his wife, that, in fact, she was friendly with tony blair and less well disposed to gordon brown? if i can summarize that? >> i think she was pretty friendly with all of them. i remember some strong arguments when i would be gracing the government and all the works and she would be standing up prit you vigorously for gordon brown. >> when did you sense that mrs. brooks would be disposed to sporting you and your party? approximately when? >> i can't really put a date on it. i think it was -- as i say there was growing picture of disenchantment with the government. the conservative party was, i think getting its act together. looking more like a credible government, and it was a process. he had some strong allies, as it were. i don't want to ruin his career, but i felt that he was someone who thought that labor got it wrong. thought the conservative party was getting its act together. lots of things he didn't agree with me but i

mr. gordon brown's evidence, but he made a specific point against you and your party and, therefore, it is right that you the opportunity to deal with it. he put it, to be fair to him, higher than in blind bogey said it was an express deal, which he made with either rupert murdoch or james murdoch two, i paraphrase, follow the line of max taggart's ofcom tim -- trim back the bbc and exchange for news international supporting your party. so that's the allegation. we will look at the detail, i would ask for you to respond to generally? >> frankly it is absolute nonsense from start to finish. i think where it comes from is obvious the gordon brown was very angry and disappointed t "the sun" had deserted him, and as a result, in my view, he has cooked up an entirely speechless and unjustified conspiracy theory to try, i know just wh is angry. but i've taken the time to look through the individual parts of policy that he points to, and i all almost every case it is complete nonsense just to take  couple of examples, he makes th point

mrs. brooks was close to gordon brown. brown, if i can summarize it like a? >> i think some strong arguments when i would be bracing the government and all it's worth. she would be standing at pretty vigorously for gordon brown. >> when did you you sense that mrs. brooks would be disposed to supporting you and your party approximately when? >> can't really put a date on it. i think it was as they say there was a growing picture of disenchantment with the government. the conservative party was i think getting its act together. looking more like a credible government, and it was a process. we had some strong allies as it were, i mean, i don't want to ruin his career but trevor kavanagh on "the sun," i felt he was someone who thought that labour government was getting it wrong. thought the conservative party was getting its act together but lots of things he didn't agree with what what a thing but i felt he was a potential ally for pony up to "the sun" readers were moving in our direction. >> i'm sure it's process, not an eve

mr. brown. >> i've read that. she was pretty cautious in what she said of gordon brown and support of them taking over. no, there were about politics in a pretty general way. so far as at that point at any rate for the murdoch press, i have my own relationship with rue merit murdoch and he was the key decision maker. >> what did you feel about some of her campaigns in particular sarah's law. did that appeal to you or not? >> no. i was pretty am bif leapt about that. as i think i said to her at the time. i understood why she thought it was a big problem. i thought particularly the way -- the trouble with any of these campaigns if you're not careful the way they're conducted ends up getting out of hand. >> just like this one did. >> yeah. what about some of the personal attacks in the sun on some of your colleagues. >> my personal thought on that to anybody else was i don't like it. i think it's, not the right way to conduct politics. but, again, to be frank this was not a matter of simply for the sun. you could spread that across the media. >> and did their come a point as with mr. murdoch i suppose tha

gordon brown actually declared war on rupert murdoch's media empire. now, that is a story which gordon brown denies, but it's obviously an area where the lawyer who cross questioned mr. brown will want to probe him on. >> and also, naomi, we are going to hear from george osborne. this is going to be interesting in terms of his links with the culture secretary here and the bskyb bid. quite a lot of detail, but george osborne is interesting. he's seen as someone who doesn't come out in public unless he really needs to. >> that's right. george osborne is not only chancellor, but also the government strategist. he does have a finger in many of the pies of government, and his name and text messages have arisen during this inquiry to do with that bskyb bid, which is now proving to be a very controversial area for this inquiry. original originally george osborne wasn't intending to give evidence to this inquiry, but precisely because his name keeps cropping up, they've actually decided to call him. so this afternoon, he, too, will be giving testimony as to what went on when the murdoch entire was trying to bid for the satellite broadcaster, bskyb. >> key figure in the gove

mr. brown? >> to be fair to her, she was pretty cautious about what she said about gordon brown of and went they were supporters of him taking over with me at any rate. they were about politics in a pretty general way. at that point, the murdoch press, i have my own relationship with rupert murdoch and he was the key decision maker. >> what did you hear about some of the campaigns, in particular, sara's law? to that appeal to you? >> i was ambivalent about that. i understand why she thought was a big problem, but the trouble with any of these campaigns is if you're not careful the way they are conducted -- >> what about the personal attacks in "the sun" against some of your colleagues? >> i didn't like it, i don't like it, i think it's not wet -- not the right way to conduct politics. but this is not simply a matter for "the the sun." -- 'the sun." >> did there come a point when you develop a relationship with her? >> yes. she became, close to once i left office, when you were freed from the constraints and when it wasn't a relationship, as it were, about the power relationship. >> did you offer

mr. brown, your full name question >> james gordon brown. >> you gave a statement the 30th of may, 2012 and it has a standard statement of truth. you signed it. is it your formal evidence to our inquiry? >> yes, it is. >> mr. brown, thank you very much for the work that has gone into the inquiry. i'm sorry about this morning being slightly delayed. >> thank you very much. >> may we start with your general,? on the bottom of the first page of your statement, you refer to secure link -- securing the right balance of the freedom of the media and privacy of citizens. implicitly and that is that there and in balance and presence. how you do that without impinging on the freedom of the media? >> the starting point has been the complaint made by families that would support the field -- the freedom of the press, but they are worried about the threat made to their privacy as individuals. i think the lord justice put it who will guard of the guardians? who will defend the defenseless? we have got to provide answers in a situation where we have to freedom is competing with each other. i have had some

mr. clegg's testimony you can see the entire statement of david cameron and former prime minister, gordon brownjohn major on c-span.org's video library.

gordon brown. >> when did you sense that mrs. brooks would be disposed to supporting you? when? >> i think it was a growing picture of disenchantment. the conservative party was getting its act together. like a credible government. was a process. we have some strong allies. i felt he was someone who thought the government was getting it wrong. the government party was getting its act together. i was felt he was a potential ally for pointing out rebekah brooks "the sun -- "the sun" readers are moving in our direction. >> approximately when did you think mrs. burks was on the -- the side? about six months before this it does support? >> i do not know. go through my diary. give you a date. >> not even a sense of when it might have been? was it months of? was it weeks? was it years? to get it wrong. it was certainly not weeks. it was more than that. i cannot give you any more than that. >> were you given any surprise -- advice of importance of james murdoch that he would have this over his father? >> i think they're all important. i did not understand. it was like the white smoke co

mrs. brooks and her witness statement, paragraph 61, states that tony blair and his aide were convinced that gordon brown and his aides had conspired together in order to force the resignation. do you agree with that? >> i don't think that is tony blair's you. it is certain that my view. this is again, you are relying on secondhand conversations that are reported by people who are not participants in the events. so i don't take that as a serious comment about what happened. >> were your age involved in using the media to force or attempt to force mr. blair's resignation -- this is in 2006? >> i would hope not. >> but where they involve? >> i would hope not. i've got no evidence of that. >> now, mr. blair said that he did know whether you, mr. wheeldon, mr. mcbride and mr. balls were briefing against him in the media. did you authorize your aides to brief against mr. blair? >> no. >> do you think they may have done so without your explicit approval, even with your knowledge speak with obviously did so because it was without my authorization. >> at. [inaudible] only to act with your authority, would you ag

prime minister gordon brown to overrule britain's financial services authority when it refused to fast track -- >> does the gentlelady imply this segment had anything to do with that? >> mr. chairman, if you could allow me to finish here. according to "the guardian," and i quote, during the bank's final hours in 2008, fold tried desperately to strike a rescue deal with barclays but the fsa would not allow the british bank an exemption from seeking time-consuming shareholder approval. the chancellor, alistair darling, appealed to the u.s. treasury secretary, henry pawlson, to contact the prime minister. and according to the latest report asked paulson to call prime minister gordon brown, but paulson said he could not do that. so fold asked paulson to call president bush. in a brainstorming session, he then suggested getting the president's brother, jeb bush, who was a lehman adviser, to get the white house to lean on downing street. governor bush, to your knowledge, did your boss, mr. fold, in fact, make such a suggestion? >> first of all, i was a consultant to lehman brothers as i stated. and no, he didn't ask me to do anything and i didn't do anything. >> i would simply

mrs. brooks. is that correct or not? >> no, it's got nothing to do with rebekah brooks at all. the fact is -- when that coup began, and i think there was some story about him having visited gordon brown. those are my people who felt very strongly that they should go out and attack on this and say this is part of a conspiracy to get rid of the prime minister. you know, i just -- look, i had taken my own decision that really by then i was going to have to in effect say when i was going to go, and i thought it was just going to be unnecessarily damaging and unpleasant if you ended up having just a huge fight between me and the person who is almost certain to be my successor. >> i think mr. watson told us that he arrived a dvd from before brown. he gave evidence in that chair from exactly those lines. >> well, you know, i'm sure. >> i'm just not sure how this issue is going to help me. the last point he made, to make sure we're covering all the points of mr. watson, he gave evidence about a message communicated from mr. murdoch first to you and then passed on from mr. brown to him effectively to back off the phone hacking issue. i think the date for that was 2009. was there any truth in

gordon brown. >> when did you sense that mrs. brooks would be disposed to supporting you? growing picture of disenchantment. was getting its act together. who thought the government was getting it wrong. >> approximately when did you think mrs. burks was on the side about six months before the shift of support? -- on the side? about six months before this it does support? i do not know. >> not even a sense of when it attacked was it ? was it months of? was it weeks? was it years? it was certainly not weeks. it was more than that. i cannot give you any more than that. >> were you given any surprise importance of james murdoch that he would have this over his father? i think they're all important. not understand how the decision would be made. they were all important interest in making that decision. >> how important were they and all of this ta/ >> the politics and not quite sure about. i am not totally sure what role he plays. >> it may not be possible to identify. would you have counted this amount your good friends by 20008? -- would you have counted them among your good

mr. president, presented on behalf of the republican senate to the health care tax force and the co sponsors of the legislation are senators dole, bond, hatfield, bennett, hatch, danforth, brown, gordon, simpson, stevens, cohen. senator warner, spectser, luger. to start, i want to thank the distinguished republican leader senator dole for his vision in directing the establishment of a senate republican health care task force in 1990. think of it, over three years ago, senator dole set up this republican health care task force. his support and encouragement of our efforts have brought us here today. i'm particularly indected to him for that. >> all right, so that is pretty much every leading senate republican of the time, including bob dole, who is leterally the leader of the senate republicans at the time. you want to know what was at the core of the bill, the heart bill? it was an individual mandate. it's right there in section 1501. section 1501, requirement of coverage, effective january 1, '05, every citizen who is a lawful permanent resident of the united states should be covered by a health care program as defined in 1601. that's half of an individual mandate. you might say whe

mr. chancellor declined to intervene and hold appeal to the u.s. secretary henry paulson to contact the primacy. in according to valukas report, asphalt and to call prime minister gordon brown but he said he couldn't do that. so he asked paulson to ask president bush to call brown, but paulson said he is working on other ideas. but in a brainstorming session he suggested being the present brother, jeb bush, was at lehman adviser to get the white house to lean on down industry. did your boss make such a suggestion of? >> first of all, he wasn't my boss. i was a consultant to lehman brothers, as i stated. and no, he didn't asked me to do anything am and i didn't do anything. >> i would solicit what you direct your question to mr. fuld? >> mr. chairman, it's very interesting how terse you were with my questioning this morning. >> you are not asking questions about the hearing. you are asking innuendo. >> it's important for the american people to understand what their financial connections actually are. >> so, i will bring it back to them. i will start off with testimony from the witnesses. mr. waxman, congressman, you made the comment with reference to i guess the appearance o

gordon brown a dae nienied by ae of murdoch. switching party aleech innocence 20 allegiance in 2009. listen to brown a. story i slammed the phone down and secondly in story from mratened them. this did not happen. i have to say to you that there's i have to say to you. i didn't happen h, because i didn't call him, and i have no reason to want to call him. and i would not have called him given everything that i have said to you. >> gordon brown there, well, of course, you heard the version of what gordon brown said there, and murdoch for his part testify f ed to the same exact panel, the so-called levinson inquiry in april and news corporation says he stands by his recollections of what gordon brown told him. and that he jeopardized murdoch's empire and shaken british empire as well. and he testified thursday within the context off that inquiry. >>> now, let's tag about a very important story that is affecting markets around the world. they opened higher today over news of the european bailout for spain to the tune of $125 billion. the euphoria however didn't last long, and some analysts say that many chronic problems remain to be sorted out, and the new managing

mrs. brooks in her statement, paragraph 61, states that tony blair and his aideses were convinced gordon brown and his aides had conspired together to force his early resignation. do you agree with that analysis? >> this is again, are you relying on second-hand conversations being reported by people who are not participants in the event. i don't think that serves as a serious comment about what happened. >> were your aides involved until attempting to force mr. blair's resignation? this is in 2006? >> i would hope not. >> were they involved? >> i would hope not. >> mr. blair said that he didn't know whether you, mr. weiland, mr. mcbride were briefing against him in the media. did you authorize your aides to boost against mr. blare? >> no. >> do you think they may have done so without your approval and with your knowledge? >> if they did so, it was without my authorization. >> is the role of an aide to a special advisor? >> no, i made it clear. i'm trying to explain why they changed the system when they went to number 10 and why i thought it was better to have advisors that new development from

mr. blair said and which you have cited, was that carried through into the brown government, in your view? >> well, i mean, the brown government did -- gordon talked yesterday about some of the things he did it change the lobby system and so on. i don't think that is really getting at the main issue. >> i've been asked to put to you a couple of questions, really, in relation to the brown period by another court participant. the first question is this -- were you aware of off the record briefings against tony blair and other government ministers by, in particular, ed balls, charlie whelan, and damian mcbride. >> ed balls, no. charlie whelan left the government in 1999. one of the things he did was he briefed. and then mcbride, when i was a cabinet minister i did it raised a concern i have with mr. brown, a believe in september 2008 about some of his activities. i think ias far as need to take that point. did you feel, looking at this time, but the government, perhaps in particular mr. brown, was assessed with the news in the press it or not? -- was obsessed with the news in the press or not? >> i think the late philip gould coined the phrase

mr. murdoch was saying about these big issues. i mean, i thought that -- >> recorded testimony from earlier today from former british prime minister gordon brown. and the british investigation and the politicians enemy. now back to life coverage of questioning to the chancellor of the exchequer, george osborne. >> i shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. >> thank you, mr. osborne. your full name. [inaudible] spent you provide us with two statements, the first the fourth of may, the second the 11th of may. is this your formal evidence for our inquiry? >> yes, it is. >> you of course are the chancellor of the exchequer and were shadow chancellor between 2005-2010, is that right? >> indeed. just one moment. thank you very much indeed for the obvious effort that you put into the statement. i do want to clarify one fact, or correct that misapprehension since the public domain. for some people, i have made it clear that they will have to give evidence. two others i want to wait to see what they say before deciding what they have to give evidence but it's quite wrong to suggest as i know has been suggested that you