The claim that "Parliament was afraid of News International" is a broad characterization, but it is one that is well-supported by substantial public evidence available as of the interview date (2 December 2011). **Key evidence:** 1. **Multiple MPs publicly testified to fear of News International.** In September 2010, former Plaid Cymru MP Adam Price — a member of the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee — told Channel 4 News that the committee held back from compelling Rebekah Brooks to testify because a senior Conservative committee member warned that if they pursued her, the tabloids "would go for us" by delving into MPs' personal lives. Price called this "very intimidating." 2. **Tom Watson, Labour MP and committee member, repeatedly described a climate of fear.** He told Channel 4 News that News International had contacted No. 10 Downing Street to ask whether Watson would "withdraw his aggressive line of questioning." He later told the Leveson Inquiry (May 2012, but consistent with his earlier public statements) that at least a dozen MPs had lived with a "sense of fear" about what would appear in the papers, and that he believed politicians had failed to pursue the phone-hacking scandal "out of fear." 3. **Liberal Democrat MP Adrian Sanders**, also on the committee, confirmed that the chairman had "made some sort of allusion towards what could happen were we to go down this route." 4. **Allegations of blackmail.** In 2011, former News of the World chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck alleged that reporters were ordered to dig up embarrassing personal information about committee members to "blackmail them into backing off" from the phone-hacking inquiry. Tom Watson referred this to the Metropolitan Police. 5. **Ministers were "mindful" of Murdoch's papers.** Tom Watson told the Leveson Inquiry that during his time as a minister under Gordon Brown, there were frequent conversations about how policies would "play out in The Sun," and that there was "a mystique about the News International stable, that they had unique access to Downing Street." **Counterpoint:** Committee chairman John Whittingdale rejected the suggestion that the committee "backed off or were soft on News International," and said that while repercussions for members' personal lives were discussed, this had "no bearing" on his decision. However, even Whittingdale confirmed the conversation about personal repercussions took place. **Assessment:** The word "afraid" is a rhetorical characterization, and not every individual MP was personally fearful. However, multiple MPs from different parties publicly described a climate of intimidation and fear around challenging News International, and this fear demonstrably affected Parliament's willingness to act — the committee did not use its full powers to compel testimony. As a broad description of the political dynamic between Parliament and News International in the period leading up to the phone-hacking scandal's explosion in mid-2011, the claim is accurate and well-supported. Sources: - Channel 4 News, "MPs 'backed off' over phone-hacking probe" (September 2010), https://www.channel4.com/news/articles/politics/domestic_politics/mps%2baposbacked%2boffapos%2bover%2bnews%2bof%2bthe%2bworld%2binvestigation/3764177.html - BBC News, "MPs 'held back' on inquiry into phone-hacking" (September 2010), https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-11268268 - The Independent, "News International 'tried to blackmail select committee'" (May 2012), https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/news-international-tried-to-blackmail-select-committee-7792687.html - The Independent, "Ministers 'were mindful of how Rupert Murdoch's papers would report their actions'" (May 2012), https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/ministers-were-mindful-of-how-rupert-murdoch-s-papers-would-report-their-actions-tom-watson-tells-leveson-inquiry-7778409.html - Huffington Post UK, "Tom Watson Tells Leveson MPs Live In Fear Of Rupert Murdoch's..." (May 2012), https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/05/22/tom-watson-leveson-fear-murdoch-news-international_n_1535250.html