Rebekah Brooks has bowed to pressure and resigned as the chief executive of News International, in the wake of the News of the World phone hacking scandal.
Mrs Brooks, 43, was editor of the News of the World at the time that the phone of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler was allegedly hacked on behalf of the newspaper.
She had offered her resignation last week but it had been declined by Rupert and James Murdoch.
Today, following days of pressure from David Cameron, Ed Miliband and major News Corp shareholders, she told staff: ?I have given Rupert and James Murdoch my resignation.
?While it has been a subject of discussion, this time my resignation has been accepted.?
She wrote: ?As Chief Executive of the company, I feel a deep sense of responsibility for the people we have hurt and I want to reiterate how sorry I am for what we now know to have taken place.?
She said: ?At News International we pride ourselves on setting the news agenda for the right reasons. Today we are leading the news for the wrong ones.?
Mrs Brooks said she had believed the ?right and responsible action? had been to lead the company through the heat of the crisis but her desire to ?remain on the bridge? had now made her ?a focal point of the debate?.
She said that her ongoing role was detracting from the company?s ?honest endeavours to fix the problems of the past?.
Her resignation would allow her to fight to clear her own name, she said.
?As you can imagine recent times have been tough. I now need to concentrate on correcting the distortions and rebutting the allegations about my record as a journalist, an editor and executive.
?My resignation makes it possible for me to have the freedom and the time to give my full cooperation to all the current and future inquiries, the police investigations and the CMS appearance.?
She thanked staff and Rupert and James Murdoch for their support.
James Murdoch released a statement describing Mrs Brooks as ?one of outstanding editors of her generation? and thanking her for her 22 years of service to the company. He said: ?We support her as she takes this step to clear her name.?
Last week, Rupert Murdoch indicated that Mrs Brooks was his top priority.
Her resignation today followed reports that Rupert Murdoch?s daughter, Elisabeth, had made a ?furious? attack on her handling of the?phone hacking?scandal. The Telegraph revealed last night that Miss Murdoch had told friends Mrs Brooks had ?f?? the company?.
Also piling pressure on Mrs Brooks last night, News Corp?s second largest shareholder, Prince al-Waleed bin Talal al Saud, said that she should resign if her involvement in the phone hacking scandal was ?explicit?.
He said: ?I will not accept to deal with a company that has a lady or a man that has any sliver of doubts on her or his integrity.?
Both the Prime Minister and the Labour leader?Ed Miliband?had already said that she should have left her post.
Mr Cameron said last week: ?It has been reported that she offered her resignation over this and in this situation I would have taken it.?
Today, the Prime Minister?s spokesman said he believed Mrs Brooks? resignation was ?the right decision?.
Mr Miliband had described her ongoing employment at News International as an ?insult? to the Dowler family.
Mrs Brooks? resignation was welcomed by Mr Miliband?today. ?It is right that Rebekah Brooks has finally taken responsibility and resigned,? he wrote on Twitter, but added: ?Mr Murdoch still hasn?t apologised to the victims of phone hacking.?
In his statement today, James Murdoch announced that News International are to run full-page adverts in their titles apologising for the phone hacking scandal.
He wrote: ?This weekend, News International will run advertisements in all national newspapers. We will apologise to the nation for what has happened. We will follow this up in the future with communications about the actions we have taken to address the wrongdoing that occurred.?
Tom Mockridge, CEO of Sky Italia, is to take over as News International chief executive, he said.
Chris Bryant MP, a victim of phone hacking, said that Mrs Brooks ?should have gone a very long time ago?.
He added: ?I thought it was disgraceful when the newspaper last week was closed as a way of trying to protect Rebekah Brooks and then Mr Murdoch saying that she was his priority.?
By Emily Gosden, The Daily Telegraph, July 15, 2011.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/8639635/Phone-hacking-Rebekah-Brooks-resigns-as-chief-executive-of-News-International.html
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