Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown attacked what he called the "criminal-media nexus" in a remarkable 32-minute speech in parliament during the Commons debate on phone hacking.
Speaking just a couple of hours after Prime Minister David Cameron announced a full judge-led inquiry into phone hacking and News Corp withdrew its bid for BSkyB, MPs used the debate to decry illegal practices inside Rupert Murdoch's company.
Proceedings were dominated by the former prime minister, who spoke out against criminal practices "on an industrial scale" inside News International.
It's only the second time the former PM has spoken in the Commons since leaving power last May. He told the House he was doing so because he had 'important information' to deliver to MPs.
He mounted a defence of Labour's relationship with News International while the party was in power. He said the relationship between the government and the News International editors and executives had always been "difficult, because Labour opposed their self-interested agenda for the future."
Gordon Brown faced numerous attempts by Conservative MPs to intervene and for most of his 30 minute speech refused to give way. The Labour MP Ben Bradshaw became increasingly irritated by the Conservatives trying to intervene, bellowing at them to sit down.
Brown's voice trembled slightly when he recalled some of the headlines in newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch which were published in the final year of his premiership. He recounted headlines like "Brown Killed My Son" and "Doctor Evil", suggesting this proved that his relationship with the Murdoch empire hadn't been cosy or convenient.
When Gordon Brown sat down there was scattered hand-clapping from the Labour benches, but other parties appear to be incensed by his speech. One MP spoke of the "same old silo mentality" of Brown, suggesting that he'd only succeeded in reinforcing the belief that he was incapable of seeing that he'd done anything wrong.
Commentators have claimed that Mr. Brown has broken convention by apparently criticising Britain's top civil servant. Mr Brown told the Commons that he'd asked the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell to consider mounting a full inquiry into the activities of News International. But Brown claimed there had been resistance to this because civil servants believed that "targeting the News of the World would have been deemed to be politically-motivated because it was too close to the General Election." Sir Gus O'Donnell remains Cabinet Secretary inside the current coalition government.
In his speech Brown said:
"News International descended from the gutter to the sewers... The trouble is that they let the rats out of the sewers.
"This was the systematic use of base and unlawful methods, new crimes with new names. It was not the misconduct of a few rogues or a few freelancers, but lawbreaking on an often industrial scale.
"I rise in this debate not to speak about myself but to speak for those who cannot defend themselves. For the grieving families of our brave war dead. For courageous survivors of 7/7. For many others dignified but now outraged victims of crime, and most recently and perhaps most of all, the victims of the violation of the rights of a missing and murdered child.
"Many, many wholly innocent, men, women and children, who at their darkest hour, at their most vulnerable moment in their lives, with no one and nowhere to turn, found their properly private lives, their private losses, their private sorrows treated as the public property of News International. Their private innermost feelings and their private tears bought and sold by News International for commercial gain."
Speaking for Labour at the debate, Ed Miliband said that Murdoch had been forced to bend to the public's will over BSkyB. He said:
"Make no mistake. The decision made by News Corporation was not the decision they wanted to make. It may have been announced before this debate but it would not have happened without it. Above all, this is a victory for people, the good, decent people of Britain, outraged by the betrayal of trust by parts of our newspaper industry, who have spoken out up and down this country, who have contacted members right across this house and told us of their concerns."