REBEKAH Brooks finally bowed to the inevitable yesterday after 10 days of demands for her to quit over the News of the World phone hacking scandal.

The 43-year-old, one of Rupert Murdoch’s closest friends at News International outside his own family, resigned as chief executive of the firm in the face of increasing public revulsion that followed on from last week’s revelation the newspaper had hacked the phone of murder victim Milly Dowler.

In an email to staff, Ms Brooks said her continuing role within the company was deflecting attention away from attempts to “fix the problems of the past” and she would now be free to fight to clear her name.

Ms Brooks said she 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”.

Prime Minister David Cameron’s official spokesperson said it was the “right decision”.

Mark Lewis, the lawyer for Milly’s parents, and Labour leader Ed Miliband, who had been the first senior politician to call for her to quit, welcomed the move, but questioned the length of time it took.

Mr Lewis said: “News International, the News of the World, had ruined people’s lives.

“In a sense it is the chicken coming home to roost. It is time.

“Every dog has its day and Rebekah Brooks, I suppose, is that dog.”

Labour leader Ed Miliband added: “It is right that Rebekah Brooks has finally taken responsibility for the terrible events that happened on her watch, like the hacking of Milly Dowler’s phone.

“But as I said when I called for her resignation 10 days ago, this is not just about one individual but about the culture of an organisation.”

The Hacked Off campaign against phone hacking said: “The key issue is not however whether Rebekah Brooks is in work, but whether she lied to Parliament, told the full truth to the police or was engaged in a massive cover-up.”

Media commentator Roy Greenslade, who said Rupert Murdoch should have demanded she quit immediately after the Dowler revelations, added: “Rebekah Brooks succumbed finally to the pressure.

“She has gone – and not before time.”

Even Sara Payne, the campaigning mother of murder victim Sarah Payne, whose calls for a Sarah’s Law to protect children were backed by Ms Brooks at the newspaper, said her decision was “right and proper”.

In her email, Ms Brooks said it would give her the time to give her full co-operation to the police investigation into phone hacking and police bribes, the judge-led inquiry launched by Mr Cameron.

She is still due to appear alongside Mr Murdoch and his son James, the chairman of News International, before MPs on the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee on Tuesday.

She told staff: “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 co-operation to all the current and future inquiries, the police investigations and the CMS appearance.

“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.”

James Murdoch, who described Ms Brooks as “one of the outstanding editors of her generation”, swiftly announced that she would be replaced by Sky Italia chief executive Tom Mockridge.

Ms Brooks was said to have enjoyed good personal friendships with David Cameron, his wife Samantha and his predecessor as Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah.

But Mr Brown revealed this week he was in tears after being phoned by Ms Brooks when, as editor of the Sun, she told him that she knew his son Fraser had been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.

The Guardian claimed the tabloid had accessed the boy’s medical records, a claim which the broadsheet now admits was inaccurate.

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