News International rejects Gordon Brown criticism

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Gordon Brown alleges that "criminals were hired" to obtain information for stories

News International has denied criticism of its journalistic methods by ex-Prime Minister Gordon Brown, saying stories it wrote about him were legitimately sourced and in the "public interest".

Mr Brown said he was "disgusted" by the conduct of its newspapers and accused them of having links to criminals.
But The Sunday Times rejected this and said it had not broken the law in a story about a flat bought by Mr Brown.
And The Sun denied accessing the medical records of Mr Brown's son.
The company's rebuttal came after another day of pressure on News International and its senior executives amid continuing allegations of phone hacking and other malpractice at the publisher.
Mr Brown accused The Sunday Times of gaining access to his bank account and legal files and said private investigators working for the paper hired "known criminals" to work on stories about him.
'Public interest' But the newspaper said a story it published claiming Mr Brown had bought a flat owned by Robert Maxwell at a "knock-down price" was in "the public interest".
"We were told that Mr Brown had bought a flat cheaper than any normal valuation and that he obtained it through a company in which Geoffrey Robinson, a close ally, had been a director," a spokesman for the newspaper said.

"We had reasonable grounds to investigate this matter and followed the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) code on using subterfuge.

"We believe no law was broken in the process of this investigation, and contrary to Mr Brown's assertion, no criminal was used and the story was published giving all sides a fair hearing."
Meanwhile, sister paper The Sun defended the methods it used in its story in 2006 revealing that Gordon Brown's son Fraser had been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.
Mr Brown said he was left "in tears" when he was told that the Sun was publishing the story and questioned how the information could have been known outside his family and medical professionals.
'Assurance' But The Sun said it had looked into Mr Brown's allegations and found no evidence of wrongdoing in how the information had been gathered.
"We are able to assure the Brown family that we did not access the medical records of their son, nor did we commission anyone to do so," a spokesman said.
"The story The Sun ran about their son originated from a member of the public whose family has also experienced cystic fibrosis.
"He came to The Sun with this information voluntarily because he wanted to highlight the cause of those afflicted by the disease. The individual has provided a written affidavit this afternoon to a lawyer confirming this."
The newspaper said it had contacted "colleagues" of Mr Brown before publishing the story and that they had given a reaction which "indicated his consent" to it.
"We believe that the article was written sensitively and appropriately. We are not aware of Mr Brown, nor any of his colleagues to whom we spoke, making any complaint about it at the time."
Hacking claims Mr Brown remained silent about alleged abuses of media power during his time in office - but he has been prompted to speak out by fresh claims in The Guardian he was targeted by News International newspapers.
Both Prime Minister David Cameron and Labour leader Ed Miliband have expressed sympathy for Mr Brown about the distress caused to him and his family by the stories.
News International is under continuing pressure despite its decision to close the News of the World amid allegations its journalists hacked the phones of murder victims and bereaved service families.
The Commons Culture Committee has asked Rupert Murdoch, his son James and News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks to appear before them next week to discuss the allegations and the internal inquiry currently taking place at the company.
News International has said it will "fully co-operate" with the committee but has not confirmed whether they will attend.