[watzizname]

Originally Posted by Osem

Brown certainly wasn't as slick and media friendly as Blair and didn't call all the shots but the point is that he went along with what was going on for a very long term and now clearly regrets he did so. The venom in his recent words, I believe, betrays more about the personal hurt he feels towards NI (for reasons like those you mention) than anything else. He had his chance to take on Murdoch and ran scared.

Going only by what I've read, it sounds more like he ran into a wall.

Gordon Brown gave vent to two years of anger over the phone-hacking scandal when he turned on Sir Gus O'Donnell and directly accused the cabinet secretary of blocking his plans to hold a judicial inquiry into the affair.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/jul/13/gordon-brown-turns-on-cabinet-secretary-phone-hacking?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_ campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Fmedia%2Frss+%28Medi a%29

Mr Brown told the Commons he asked Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell to back a judicial inquiry two years ago..

Charlie Elphicke: I thank the right hon. Gentleman for giving way. As a parent myself, I share the disgust at the invasion of his privacy, and I agree with him that the police have serious questions to answer. Nevertheless, criminality was disclosed in the Culture, Media and Sport Committee report in 2003 and by the Information Commissioner in 2006. As a new Member, I ask him: why was nothing done?

Mr Brown: I have set out the record of my desire to have a judicial inquiry. It was opposed by the police, opposed by the Home Office and opposed by the civil service, and it was not supported by the Select Committee of the day. However, if the hon. Gentleman felt that it was right in 2003 that there should have been an inquiry into the media, why at no point, even until last week, did the Conservative party ever support an inquiry into the media in this country?

http://conservativehome.blogs.com/parliament/2011/07/mr-gordon-brown-kirkcaldy-and-cowdenbeath-lab-it-is-a-bit-like-the-old-days-for-me-with-the-government-on-the-run-the.html

Brown, who volunteered to give evidence to any inquiry investigating hacking, denied accusations the relationship between his Government and News International broke down during the Labour Party conference in autumn 2009 when the media group's flagship title The Sun ditched its support for the party.

He quoted a string of negative headlines such as "Brown Killed My Son", "Doctor Evil" and "The Betrayer of Britain" proving he was not in league with News International's executives.

"The relationship between News International and the Labour administration I led was from start to finish neither cosy nor comfortable,"

http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=47500&c=1