The worst is yet to come, Brooks tells journalists as they ask searching questions about paper's demise



Brooks branded as 'arrogant' sparking applause in the newsroom



She was told if she quit on Monday then 200 jobs could have been saved

Staff put in 'virtual quarantine' with access to internet and emails cut



Rebekah Brooks: Faced fury of her staff

Rebekah Brooks told News of the World journalists there were worse revelations to come in the hacking scandal during a heated meeting which saw them vent their fury at her ‘betrayal’.

The embattled chief executive said that in a year’s time staff would all understand why the company had decided to close the newspaper.

They were also told their newsroom in Wapping, East London, was effectively being sealed off and they claim they are all being treated like ‘potential suspects’.

Some challenged her about her decision to stay on at the helm during the meeting, which was covertly recorded and leaked to Sky News.

In the recording one member of staff accuses Mrs Brooks of arrogance in believing that they might want to work for her again, followed by a ripple of applause.

TV editor Tom Latchem is said to have put Mrs Brooks on the spot, saying that if she had fallen on her sword on Monday, when the Milly Dowler phone hacking scandal broke, it might have saved 200 jobs.

In response, sources at the meeting told how Mrs Brooks provoked more derision by claiming she had stayed on to be the ‘conductor’ for the crisis, and declared she felt ‘betrayed’ by the allegations of wrongdoing.

Rebekah Brooks addressing staff

She claimed to have ‘some visibility’ about the revelations to come and that there would have been ‘another two years of trouble’ if the paper had not been closed.



She told reporters she did not expect to be arrested herself. Speculation has been rife about her role as the publication’s editor at the time Milly’s phone is said to have been hacked into and her voicemails deleted.

Mrs Brooks admitted she was no longer in charge of the News International investigation into the scandal owing to the potential conflict of interest.

Yesterday journalists told how the News of the World offices were in ‘virtual quarantine’ as staff were unable to come and go freely or access the internet or their work emails.

They were also told not to remove any items from the news floor.

Staff went to the pub to drown their sorrows earlier in the week and are now say they are being treated like 'potential suspects'

The newsroom at News of the World is effectively being sealed off amid claims staff are being treated as 'potential suspects'

BSKYB HIT FOR A BILLION

More than £1billion was wiped off the value of BSkyB yesterday as it emerged that the media watchdog Ofcom is investigating Rupert Murdoch’s suitability to own the company.

The regulator announced it has contacted police to determine whether the tycoon’s News Corp and its directors are ‘fit and proper’ owners of the broadcaster following the recent phone hacking allegations.

Ofcom sources said they were ‘deeply concerned’ over the latest developments at the News of the World and were monitoring the situation ‘closely’.

The watchdog has a legal duty to ensure that anyone who holds a broadcast licence remains fit and proper to do so and can revoke this at any time.

News Corp already holds a 39 per cent share in BSkyB and has launched a £10billion bid for the remaining 61 per cent. Shares in BSkyB closed down 7.64 per cent at 750p, their lowest in nearly five months.

Ofcom has asked police, parliamentary select committees and the Press Complaints Commission to provide it with any relevant information to help with its assessment.

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt paved the way for the BSkyB deal to go through last month when he agreed proposals which will see Sky News run as an independent company.

But following the hacking scandal, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport has been deluged with an unprecedented 160,000 responses to its consultation which ended yesterday.

Mrs Brooks apologised for these ‘operational issues’ relating to the emails, blaming the police investigation, after staff complained they were being ‘treated like criminals’.

Journalists had glumly returned to work yesterday in the hope of putting out a final edition which would focus on the 168-year-old paper’s achievements, although there were fears the email clampdown would make this difficult.

Staff from its News International stablemate the Sun have been put on standby to help with production if staff do not turn up today. This was amid growing speculation that the Sun will become a seven-day operation to fill the void left by the News of the World being closed down.

Talking of the closure, Mrs Brooks spoke of her own meteoric rise at the Sunday tabloid from secretary to editor at the age of 34, trying to show her loyalty against claims that the paper was sacrificed to protect her. She said the decision to close was ‘not taken lightly’ but claimed executives were backed into a corner after advertisers deserted the ‘toxic’ brand.

She also tried to assure staff that as many as possible would be found jobs elsewhere in the company, paying tribute to the ‘talented and untainted’ journalists at the paper.

Sky sources said Mrs Brooks had told staff a ‘quick decision’ would be made over whether to publish a Sun on Sunday.

News of the World staff were yesterday given a letter outlining their redundancy packages.

Mrs Brooks wrote to staff: ‘While mistakes of the past have led the country’s news agenda, News of the World exclusives have set the news agenda around the world.

‘The Company will focus over the coming months on finding as many jobs as possible for the News of the World staff both within News International and the wider company.’

In response to calls for her resignation, even from the Prime Minister, she added: ‘James outlined the standards this company demands in his message to you yesterday.



'These standards apply to everyone, first and foremost to me as News International’s chief executive.’



When challenged as to why she had not handed in her notice, she told staff she was the ‘best person’ to lead the company out of its current mess, sources claimed.

In the recording, Mrs Brooks told staff: ‘This is not exactly the best time of my life’.

She was interrupted by an irate staff member who said: ‘By your actions yesterday you are calling our newspaper toxic. We are all contaminated by that toxicity in the way we have been treated.