News of the World closure is "sad", says Max Clifford

Max Clifford has expressed his sadness at the impending closure of the News of the World.

Speaking from his Surrey home, the publicist told ITV1's Daybreak that he thought the newspaper was as much a part of British Sunday tradition as eggs and bacon.

Clifford said: "I think the whole thing is shocking. I feel very sorry for the team at the News of the World, because the reality of it is that none of them working on the News of the World have anything to do with this, so they've all lost their jobs because of what happened years ago by other journalists and not by them. So they're being punished for what other people did. I'm sorry for that.

"I think it's a sad day, [after] 168 years, the most famous paper in the world is going. I think it's a Sunday morning tradition in this country, the same way as eggs and bacon. I think that they have... broken a lot of major stories over the years and been very supportive of a lot of big campaigns, Help for Heroes, Sarah's Law, all of these things."

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Clifford was cautious on press reports suggesting that former News of the World editor Andy Coulson could be arrested today in connection with the ongoing Scotland Yard investigation.

"With regard to Andy, you know, at the moment, we hear he's going to be arrested," he said. "But really, what we need to know is what's the truth, you know, what's the reality, we don't know. At the moment, we're talking about accusations."

Clifford, whose celebrity clients past and present include Simon Cowell, Stacey Solomon, Jade Goody and Muhammad Ali, also added that he thought it was unlikely that Rebekah Brooks would have known about phone-hacking allegations at the newspaper.

He continued: "It's exactly the same with Rebekah [Brooks]. I've known Rebekah for many, many years. My belief is she will have had no knowledge, and certainly no involvement, if these allegations are proven to be true. My belief and my insight into it is that some of these allegations about Milly Dowler were shown not to be true.

"So I think before everybody wants to destroy Rebekah Brooks, you know, let's get to the facts. I know Rebekah has already offered to resign and Rupert Murdoch wouldn't accept that. And certainly, with any of the police I've been dealing with, there's doubt about the authenticity of these claims about Milly Dowler."

Clifford further explained: "You do deals with news editors, which the news editor is aware of - a news editor, or someone in that position - and the editor isn't aware of. I've done them for 40-odd years with news editors of all newspapers across the board. So I think we need to establish the facts as opposed to reacting to allegations."

The last edition of the News of the World will be published this Sunday, July 10.

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