London (CNN) -- Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair came under "political pressure" from media baron Rupert Murdoch during his time in office, he testified Monday at an independent inquiry set up in response to phone hacking and alleged police bribery at Murdoch newspapers in Britain.
Asked if he was "too cozy" with Murdoch, as current Prime Minister David Cameron says many in the British political establishment have been, Blair denied it.
"Coziness is not quite the way I would put it. You were in a position where you were dealing with very powerful people," he said, elaborating on the power of the British press, a theme he referred to frequently. "If they were against you, they were all-out against you."
Separately, London police announced the arrest of a 42-year-old woman in connection with their probe into phone hacking.
The woman was arrested Monday morning on suspicion of money laundering, police said without naming the woman.
The arrest came as Blair was testifying at the Leveson Inquiry into British press ethics.
He said the relationship between the press and politicians is complicated.
"The relationship is one in which you feel this pretty intense power," he said.
Blair said he occasionally decided things that went against Murdoch's wishes and interests.
Of course Blair was eventually named godfather to Murdoch's daughter, so that couldn't have been too often.
That last line about Blair being the godfather. I knew it already, but it was a perfectly positioned closer. LOL.
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