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12 July 2011
Last updated at 04:43 ET
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Gordon Brown says he was 'in tears' about the Sun's revelations relating to his young son's health
Gordon Brown has claimed News International used "known criminals" to gain access to personal information about himself and others.
The former prime minister accused the news organisation of having links to the "criminal underworld".
And he accused the Sunday Times of running a story "with the purpose of bringing me down as a government minister".
News International said it had no comment about Mr Brown's allegations.
It comes after a week of allegations about phone hacking at another News International title, the News of the World, which is accused of using a private investigator to listen to the mobile phone messages of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler.
'I'm shocked' The latest claims relate to personal details it is claimed were obtained for a front-page Sunday Times report that Mr Brown had bought a flat owned by Robert Maxwell at a "knock-down price".
Mr Brown told the BBC the story had been "completely wrong" but the company had been "trying to prove a point" and had aimed to bring him down as chancellor.
He alleged the newspaper had got access to his building society account and legal files: "I'm shocked, I'm genuinely shocked to find this happened because of the links with known criminals who were undertaking this activity, hired by investigators who were working with the Sunday Times."
"If I, with all the protection and all the defences and all the security that a chancellor of the exchequer or a prime minister has, is so vulnerable to unscrupulous tactics, unlawful tactics, to methods that have been used in the way that we've found - what about the ordinary citizen?
"What about the person - like the family of Milly Dowler - who were in the most desperate of circumstances, at the most difficult occasions in their lives - in huge grief ... and then they find that they are totally defenceless in this moment of greatest grief from people who are employing these ruthless tactics?"
Medical condition The former PM also said he was "in tears" when he was told by News International journalists that the Sun had details of his son Fraser's medical condition - he has cystic fibrosis - as he had wanted the information to be kept private.
"Sarah and I were incredibly upset about it, we were thinking about his long term future, we were thinking about our family," he said.
He said he did not know how the newspaper had got access to the details: "The fact is, it did appear and it did appear in the Sun newspaper."
News International said the Sun newspaper is satisfied about the methods in which it obtained the story about Gordon Brown's son's medical condition.
Mr Brown dismissed claims that he had done little to tackle alleged abuses of press power when he was in office.
He claimed that in his final months in office, he had wanted a judicial inquiry - but he said: "At the time however there was very few people who accepted this was the right thing to do."
He and his wife Sarah attended former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks's wedding - but Mr Brown said he had only recently received information about how News International had allegedly got access to some of his private information.
He told the BBC an inquiry should look at how the company abuses its power.
Former Labour home secretary Alan Johnson told the BBC he did not call for an investigation into the original hacking inquiry because it would have been seen as a "low political blow" against Andy Coulson - an ally of then opposition leader David Cameron.
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Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.Gordon Brown says he was 'in tears' about the Sun's revelations relating to his young son's health
Gordon Brown has claimed News International used "known criminals" to gain access to personal information about himself and others.
The former prime minister accused the news organisation of having links to the "criminal underworld".
And he accused the Sunday Times of running a story "with the purpose of bringing me down as a government minister".
News International said it had no comment about Mr Brown's allegations.
It comes after a week of allegations about phone hacking at another News International title, the News of the World, which is accused of using a private investigator to listen to the mobile phone messages of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler.
'I'm shocked' The latest claims relate to personal details it is claimed were obtained for a front-page Sunday Times report that Mr Brown had bought a flat owned by Robert Maxwell at a "knock-down price".
Mr Brown told the BBC the story had been "completely wrong" but the company had been "trying to prove a point" and had aimed to bring him down as chancellor.
He alleged the newspaper had got access to his building society account and legal files: "I'm shocked, I'm genuinely shocked to find this happened because of the links with known criminals who were undertaking this activity, hired by investigators who were working with the Sunday Times."
"If I, with all the protection and all the defences and all the security that a chancellor of the exchequer or a prime minister has, is so vulnerable to unscrupulous tactics, unlawful tactics, to methods that have been used in the way that we've found - what about the ordinary citizen?
"What about the person - like the family of Milly Dowler - who were in the most desperate of circumstances, at the most difficult occasions in their lives - in huge grief ... and then they find that they are totally defenceless in this moment of greatest grief from people who are employing these ruthless tactics?"
Medical condition The former PM also said he was "in tears" when he was told by News International journalists that the Sun had details of his son Fraser's medical condition - he has cystic fibrosis - as he had wanted the information to be kept private.
"Sarah and I were incredibly upset about it, we were thinking about his long term future, we were thinking about our family," he said.
He said he did not know how the newspaper had got access to the details: "The fact is, it did appear and it did appear in the Sun newspaper."
News International said the Sun newspaper is satisfied about the methods in which it obtained the story about Gordon Brown's son's medical condition.
Mr Brown dismissed claims that he had done little to tackle alleged abuses of press power when he was in office.
He claimed that in his final months in office, he had wanted a judicial inquiry - but he said: "At the time however there was very few people who accepted this was the right thing to do."
He and his wife Sarah attended former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks's wedding - but Mr Brown said he had only recently received information about how News International had allegedly got access to some of his private information.
He told the BBC an inquiry should look at how the company abuses its power.
Former Labour home secretary Alan Johnson told the BBC he did not call for an investigation into the original hacking inquiry because it would have been seen as a "low political blow" against Andy Coulson - an ally of then opposition leader David Cameron.
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