Rupert breaks his silence to defend himself, his son and his embattled empire

Since his arrival in Britain to manage the phone-hacking crisis, just two words have been uttered in public by Rupert Murdoch.

His sole utterance came when he was confronted by camera crews as he emerged from his apartment in Mayfair with Rebekah Brooks, the embattled chief executive of News International. Asked what his first priority was, the octogenarian tycoon pointed at her and simply replied: "This one."

Otherwise he has only produced inscrutable smiles. All that changed last night when the News Corporation chairman spoke for the first time about the scandal that has paralysed his global media empire.