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Rupert Murdoch in rift with Tony Blair over claims of 'multiple' encounters with ex-wife Wendi Deng

Rupert Murdoch met Wendi Deng, a Yale business school graduate, in 1997 Photo: Reuters By Ben Bryant

10:07AM GMT 24 Nov 2013

A 'terminal' rift has severed relations between Rupert Murdoch and Tony Blair over reports of Mr Blair's friendship with the entrepreneur's ex-wife Wendi Deng, it is claimed.

Blair has always stated that his relationship with Deng is platonic and there is no suggestion of any impropriety by Blair or Deng.

Despite efforts by Blair to contact Murdoch, the media mogul has refused to speak to him since he filed for divorce from Deng in June, according to the Mail on Sunday.

Sources close to Murdoch in London claim that Blair, 60, and Deng, 44, had 'multiple encounters' without 82-year-old Murdoch's knowledge.

Tony Blair is godfather to the Murdochs' daughter Grace (Reuters)

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They are said to have stayed overnight at Murdoch's £12m California home on weekends in October 2012 and April 2013, and spent a weekend at Murdoch's LA home and meetings in London and New York.

Murdoch and Deng's divorce was finalised by a US court last week after the couple reached an "amicable" divorce settlement to end their 14-year marriage.

On Saturday night a feud erupted between allies of Blair and Murdoch, whose stable of newspapers includes The Sun and The Times.

A close friend of Blair told the Daily Mail: "Rupert Murdoch is putting out ridiculous stories about Wendi and Tony which are not true. It is the ravings of a sad old man."

A friend of Murdoch told the newspaper: "Rupert Murdoch will have nothing more to do with Tony Blair. Not ever."

Murdoch and Blair were close allies for many years and Murdoch's support is widely considered to have been a crucial factor in Labour's three consecutive election victories from 1997 onwards.

Blair and Murdoch were good friends, and Blair even became godfather to the Murdochs' daughter Grace in 2010.

Allies of Murdoch told the Daily Mail that he is said to have been "shocked" to learn that Wendi had met Mr Blair without his knowledge. He is said to have asked her for an explanation.

Speculation of an affair between Blair and Deng first emerged in June after a tweet from BBC journalist Robert Peston who said: "Am told that undisclosed reasons for Murdoch divorcing Deng are jaw-dropping and hate myself for wanting to know what they are."

At the time a spokesperson for Blair denied an affair with Deng.

Murdoch met Deng, a Yale business school graduate, in 1997 on a business trip to Shanghai when he sought to hire a translator and guide.

Spokespeople for Blair, Murdoch and Deng did not respond to requests for comment.

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Day Of the Doctor: Doctor Who special in pictures

Matt Smith (left) and David Tennant, with their sonic screwdrivers, in the 50th anniversary Doctor Who special Day of the Doctor.

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Sir Cameron Mackintosh in new row over harbour in Scottish village

By Nick Collins

4:08PM GMT 24 Nov 2013

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Sir Cameron Mackintosh, the theatre impresario, has been accused of "destroying" his village in the Scottish Highlands over his plans to develop its harbour.

The tycoon, 66, who was behind West End hits Cats, Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables, has proposed a £750,000 development of new marina facilities including a private pier in Mallaig, on Scotland's west coast.

But villagers have attacked plans to include a food outlet at the site, saying there are plenty of local restaurants and adding more competition will harm local businesses.

Sir Cameron is said to be "deeply hurt" over the personal nature of some of the attacks and to be considering abandoning the project altogether unless it is backed by the local community.

The controversy is the second to engulf the theatre mogul in recent weeks, after he was labelled a "disgrace" for using foul language at a funeral service for a former employee.

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Sir Cameron is reported to have sworn and used inappropriate phrases in a eulogy to Frank Conway, who died aged 88, prompting some mourners to try to shout him down.

The incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour and St Cumin in Morar was reported to the Bishop of Argyll and the Isles, Joseph Toal.

Sir Cameron, who is worth an estimated £725 million, bought the 15,000 acre Nevis Estate where he had spent his holidays as a child in 1994.

His development plans involve building new marina facilities in the style of an ancient crannog – an artificial island built on a loch – as well as demolishing the old village hall, building two residential units and mixed use space including retail, food and drink outlets including hot food takeaway.

Mallaig: villagers have attacked plans saying there are plenty of local restaurants and adding more competition will harm local businesses

The scheme will be considered by the Highland Council in the new year but some villagers have already objected and begun a petition.

Michele Milligan of The Steam Inn, a Taste of Scotland award winner, said: "How in God's name is another one (food outlet) going to benefit anyone? You say 'it will provide jobs', I say I will need to pay off staff as there won't be enough to go around.

"By all means renovate what existing buildings are there and clean the place up," she added. "If Mr Macintosh wants to invest money do it wisely and not to the detriment of already struggling businesses."

Café owners Linda and Peter McLean added: "Having new retail, catering and carry-out facilities would be to the detriment of existing businesses within the village – these businesses are mainly locally owned and provides much needed employment to local people."

Charlie King, the vice chairman of the Mallaig Harbour Authority which are to gain new lavatories and shower facilities under the plans, said Sir Cameron had been "very hurt" over the criticism.

"He had received an email from one of the objectors claiming that he was destroying the village," he said. "It really annoyed him. He says he is spending £750,000 on helping the village.

"He has taken the criticism badly. He has received quite a few personal attacks over this and he said to me that 'if they don't want it he does not need to do it.' He will never make money in his lifetime from this."

Mr King, a former Highland councillor for the area, said Sir Cameron had told him he was going to drop the restaurant from the plans and replace it with a bakery.

Andrew Aitchison, the estate's agent, added: "Unless there was strong support in the majority of the community, Sir Cameron would not proceeded against the wishes of the majority of the village."

Sir Cameron has had problems on his estate before, with arsonists setting fire to his 19ft Orkney Fast Liner boat on Loch Morar in 2011.

Weeks earlier, a court had ruled in Sir Cameron's favour in a land dispute with a Crofting tenant. In November 2000, Sir Cameron's then holiday home on the shore of Loch Nevis burned down in a mystery fire.

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Vicky Pryce: 'I get stopped in the street - people hug me'

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Red-tape nightmare, Emma Thompson's foresight and NHS websites

Comments

Bureaucracy is the bane of modern living. It sometimes seems that form-filling and box-ticking has taken on a life of its own – and, of course, this has infiltrated the world of medicine. The working hours of doctors and nurses are now dominated not by patients, but by pieces of paper.

Clinical staff interviewed for a Government review published last week said they spent up to 10 hours a week collecting or checking data, and that more than one third of the work was neither useful nor relevant to patient care. The review from the NHS Confederation, which represents health service managers, blamed duplication and poor use of technology for staff wasting their time in this way.

Many will be shocked that so much time is spent on paperwork, rather than caring for the sick, but I’m amazed that it is apparently so little. I frequently feel I am drowning in forms to be completed, statistics to be gathered and boxes to be ticked. I trained to be a doctor because I wanted to work with people, not complete forms that have no tangible, meaningful impact on the patient.

Every clinician I know feels the same. I work in a hospital providing tertiary care to people with severe, complex mental health problems. I will typically see patients for 30 minutes to an hour. For every patient I see, I have at least one hour of paperwork to do.

Some of this has a clear benefit to the patient. I spend a long time, for example, writing detailed letters to GPs providing in-depth history and patient treatment plans.

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Dirty Rotten Scoundrels director is no slave to the cinema

After a number of critics felt the stage version of Strangers on a Train tried to be too like the film, the director Jerry Mitchell, whose Dirty Rotten Scoundrels opens in the New Year, says his production will stand on its own two feet.

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