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Former PM ‘genuinely shocked’ to discover journalists tried to access his voicemail and obtained information from his bank account and son’s medical records Follow all the latest developments in the phone-hacking scandal on our live blog The former prime minister Gordon Brown has condemned “the most disgusting work” of News International journalists for using known criminals to invade the privacy and feelings of ordinary people, and accused the company of abusing its power for political gain. Brown was reacting to revelations that News International journalists had attempted to access his voicemail and had obtained information from his bank account, his legal file and his family’s medical records . “I’m genuinely shocked to find that this happened. If I – with all the protection and all the defences that a chancellor or a prime minister has – can be so vulnerable to unscrupulous and unlawful tactics, what about the ordinary citizen? “I find it quite incredible that a supposedly reputable organisation makes its money at the expense of ordinary people.” In an interview with the BBC and the Guardian, Brown confirmed that shortly after the birth of his son, Fraser, in October 2006, Rebekah Brooks, then editor of the Sun, telephoned his wife Sarah to say the paper had obtained details from the boy’s medical records, revealing that he was suspected to be suffering from cystic fibrosis. Brown said he had never wanted his children’s lives to be the subject of publicity. “I have never talked publicly about Fraser’s condition. Obviously we wanted to keep that private. As a parent, you want to do your best by your children.” Asked how he and his wife had reacted to the call, he said: “In tears. Your son is going to be broadcast across the media. Sarah and I were incredibly upset.” Brown said he had no idea how the Sun had obtained the information and questioned the paper’s claim last night that this had been done legitimately. “They will have to explain themselves. I can’t think of any way that the medical condition of a child can be put into the public domain legitimately unless the doctor makes a public statement or the family make a statement. “I don’t know how it appeared. The fact is that it did appear. It appeared in the Sun.” He said he had known at the time that his bank account had been penetrated by the Sunday Times but had not understood that News International had relied on the help of criminals. “I had my bank account broken into. I had my legal files effectively broken into. My tax returns went missing at one point. Medical records were broken into. I don’t know how this happened. “I do know that in two instances there is absolute proof that News International hired people to do this and the people who are doing this are criminals, known criminals in some cases with records of violence and fraud.” The Guardian previously has disclosed: • That the News of the World hired a private investigator, Jonathan Rees , who had a history of corrupt dealings with police officers and who had been jailed for plotting to plant cocaine on a woman so that she would lose custody of her children. • That the Sunday Times “blagged” – obtained private information illegally, normally by impersonating someone on the phone – Brown’s details from a London law firm ] by using the skills of a conman named Barry Beardall, who was subsequently jailed for fraud. • And that the Sunday Times repeatedly hired a former actor, John Ford, who specialised in blagging information from confidential databases, potentially in breach of the Data Protection Act. Brown said he had complained to the editor of the Sunday Times, John Witherow, when he discovered in January 2000 that the paper had blagged information from his bank account, but Witherow had not taken sufficient action. “There was no support going to come from the editor of the Sunday Times in dealing with the indiscipline among his reporters. This was a culture in the Sunday Times and other newspapers in News International, where they really exploited people.” Brown said that as prime minister he had wanted to set up a judicial inquiry. “I came to the conclusion that the evidence was becoming so overwhelming about the underhand tactics of News International using these private investigators to trawl through people’s lives, particularly the lives of people who were completely defenceless, I thought we had to have a judicial inquiry.” Senior officials, however, had blocked the plan. He said News International had attempted to interfere in his government’s policy on the BBC, on the media regulator Ofcom and generally in pursuit of their commercial interests. “We stood up to News International and refused to support their commercial ambitions when we thought they were against the public interest.” He suggested this was part of the reason why its newspapers had attacked his government. “News International pursued an incredibly aggressive agenda in the last year. News International were distorting the news in a way that was designed to pursue a particular political cause. This was an abuse of their power for political gain. “The record will show that some people at News International abused their power. There is absolutely no doubt that News International were trying to influence policy. This is an issue about the abuse of political power as well as the abuse of civil liberties.” Phone hacking Gordon Brown Newspapers & magazines National newspapers News International Newspapers The Sun Sunday Times John Witherow Rebekah Brooks Nick Davies guardian.co.uk