David Cameron was visibly rattled by Robert Jay QC, Counsel to the Leveson Inquiry, earlier today. Counsel was examining the relationship between the PM and Rebekah Brooks. Counsel concentrated on the text that Mrs Brooks sent Mr Cameron on the eve of his 2009 party conference speech. Mrs Brooks’s use of Cameron’s phrase ‘in this together’, which he used extensively in the subsequent speech, has led some to argue that their relationship was too close.
In the morning session, Counsel asked Mr Cameron how often he met Mrs Brooks socially at the weekend. Mr Cameron was vague in response, only offering ‘well not every week’ in answer. (Mr Cameron returned from lunch with a clearer answer thanks to his wife’s meticulous diary keeping. ‘We met [the Brookses] an average of once every six weeks,’ he said. Lord Justice Leveson told Mr Cameron that this showed ‘the great value of wives’. Onlookers shuddered.)
Counsel then began to probe the appointment of Andy Coulson — a decision that the prime minister confessed ‘haunted’ him.
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