Top Diaries

The key question is who is the We in the email

I am sure you will understand that we will want to be able to be entirely clear, for your sake and ours, that we have not been in contact with you about this subject.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 08:05:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Because it is completely clear that Ed Llewellyn told Yates that he didn't want to officially know about what Yates had to tell him because he knew it was radioactive.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 11:19:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]

yes, but the We in the statement makes it seem that it wasn't a decision he had made alone

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Wed Jul 20th, 2011 at 06:35:38 AM EST
[ Parent ]

But Cameron and Llewellyn would maintain that the "we" was Llewellyn and Yates. But can they sell that interpretation?

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Wed Jul 20th, 2011 at 09:17:49 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Jesus.

Economics is politics by other means

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed Jul 20th, 2011 at 01:37:10 AM EST
[ Parent ]

That was fast :-) (none / 1)

Ask Murdoch

by Fran (fran at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 11:50:05 AM EST

Idiot comedian

has attempted to pie Murdoch providing front page and generating sympathy

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 12:45:15 PM EST

Phone-hacking: Murdochs and Rebekah Brooks face MPs - live | Politics | guardian.co.uk

5.31pm: The protest against Rupert Murdoch seems to have completely backfired, Paul Owen writes. It has transformed Murdoch into a sympathetic figure, an old man under attack from a young one, and may have contributed to the committee's decision to allow Murdoch to read his lengthy statement in full. He ended the session having the last word, able to express his contrition to the country. The headlines tonight and tomorrow may well be about the attack on Murdoch rather than the complex and detailed issues that were discussed in the session itself.

video

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 12:49:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Rupert? Wasn't James attacked?

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 01:10:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]

No Rupert

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 02:26:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

True...public will end up with empathy for old guy...incredible...

by vbo on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 09:49:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Not so much an idiot as a self serving low life looking for some self-glorification.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 02:03:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]

So was he planted?

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 03:16:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Good question. Plant or volunteer? I don't know anything about him. There are plenty of conservative comics. This guy was trivializing the whole proceedings in tweets. In one he confirmed that Murdoch WAS Mr. Burns, (From the Simpsons -- the evil owner of the nuclear plant.)

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 07:28:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Conservative party to say that Neil Wallis worked informally for Andy Coulson before the election, pushes Cameron that much closer to the edge

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 12:56:33 PM EST

Brooks may be a sideshow. David Cameron could be in dreadful trouble - Telegraph Blogs

Terrible rumours for David Cameron: that Neil Wallis advised Andy Coulson while the latter was employed by the PM. That's what Ian Katz has just tweeted:
Very serious for Cameron: Tories to announce that Neil Wallis (suspect in hacking investigation) advised Coulson while working for Cameron.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 01:08:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Are the tories throwing Cameron under the bus?

Economics is politics by other means

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 01:11:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Or a faction thereof?

The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman

by dvx (dvx.clt ät gmail dotcom) on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 02:00:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]

may well be. odds dropped from 150/1 he'd lose his job before end of parliament to 12/1 yesterday.

today it's gone from 8/1 to 2/1 by the end of the year

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 02:28:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

If the odds continue on that trajectory it will be 100:1 that he is gone in a week.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 07:31:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Yea, but this is factional agitating. We have no real idea what the general sentiment is within the conservative party.

Truth is that if the grandees and the 1922 committee want you to stay, then nothing can disturb you. And the converse is true as well. Cameron is where he is because he's well-connected, a natural schmoozer and still provides a pretty front for Osborne's horrible policies.

The tories would be toast if Osborne or Gove were PM and I think they know it well enough to ride the storm.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 02:54:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The Tory right wing - of whom the 'Telegraph' is the house rag - have long wanted Cameron's head on a platter.

"The future is already here -- it's just not very evenly distributed" William Gibson

by ChrisCook (cojockathotmaildotcom) on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 03:04:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]

First they need a candidate. Boris has a better chance than any of the chancers from the right. And Boris cannot win.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 03:48:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I think a few years ago, people said that about Boris becoming major...

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 04:47:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Maybe, but Boris was the beneficiary of extremely biased newspaper coverage from the Evening Standard, the London local paper which went totally Fox in its coverage.

That cannot be replicated for the Tory party leadership as there are too many factions of the right represented in the British media.

Boris is too much of a loose cannon, very ambitious and capable of great efforts, but is basically lazy and seems incapable of mastering a complex brief, preferring bluster and charm. These are traits which disqualify him from being PM in today's 24/7 news cycle.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 05:09:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Twitter / @RichNeville: "I did not have equestrian ...

after brooks denies horseriding with Cameron someone commented

"I did not have equestrian relations with that prime minister."

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 03:23:10 PM EST

Twitter / @MrJayLucas: This apparent blindness of ...

This apparent blindness of newspaper editors at least explains why Perry White has never realised that Clark Kent is secretly Superman.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 03:31:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Murdoch Select Committee Day (4.00 / 5)

Our aristos are legendarily relaxed about what their spouses get up to....'as long as it doesn't frighten the horses'

"The future is already here -- it's just not very evenly distributed" William Gibson

by ChrisCook (cojockathotmaildotcom) on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 03:52:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Guardian home affairs editor (none / 0)

@alantravis40: Home affairs ctte to publish overnight report on phonehacking before commons debate

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 04:33:08 PM EST

BBC reporting that Cameron missed all of this circus this afternoon as he's on the plane on the way back from Africa.

apparently the line was crackly and when they were told he'd been hit in the face by foam, the bad line had led people on the flight to believe he'd been hit in the face by a phone

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 05:28:20 PM EST

News Corp board shocked at evidence of payments to police, says former DPP | Media | The Guardian

"Blindingly obvious" evidence of corrupt payments to police officers was found by the former director of public prosecutions, Lord Macdonald, when he inspected News of the World emails, the home affairs select committee was told.
Explaining how he had been called in by solicitors acting for Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation board, Lord Macdonald said that when he inspected the messages it took him between "three to five minutes" to decide that the material had to be passed to police.
"The material I saw was so blindingly obvious that trying to argue that it should not be given to the police would have been a hard task. It was evidence of serious criminal offences."
He first showed it to the News Corp board in June this year. "There was no dissent," he recalled. "They were stunned. They were shocked. I said it was my unequivocal advice that it should be handed to the police. They accepted that."

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 06:30:53 PM EST

Re: Murdoch Select Committee Day (4.00 / 3)

I believe Captain Renault had much the same reaction when told there was gambling in Rick's bar.

He put down his cards and said "I'm shocked, shocked I tell you"

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Wed Jul 20th, 2011 at 05:48:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Murdoch Select Committee Day (4.00 / 2)

News International 'deliberately' blocked investigation | Media | The Guardian

Rupert Murdoch's News International has been found by a parliamentary committee to have "deliberately" tried to block a Scotland Yard criminal investigation into phone hacking at the News of the World, the Guardian has learned.
The report by MPs from the all-party home affairs committee will be released on Wednesday and its publication has been moved forward in time for today's statement by prime minister David Cameron on the scandal.
The report's central finding comes a day after Rupert and James Murdoch testified before the culture, media and sport committee.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 09:06:18 PM EST

Cameron is riding the storm (none / 1)

The Polling Effect of "Hackgate"

So in conclusion - from the polling so far hackgate appears to have had only a small negative effect on the Conservatives in the polls, and one which may already be fading. While people think Cameron has handled it badly, it has had only a minor effect on his broader approval ratings. Ed Miliband meanwhile has seen a significant boost in how the public see him, though it remains to be seen if it lasts.

Ever since I learnt about confirmation bias I've started seeing it everywhere

by ATinNM on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 09:16:07 PM EST

Re: Cameron is riding the storm (none / 0)

I've been surprised by that as well, although if nothing else it has given Miliband the opportunity to present himself as a credible leader.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.

by Drew J Jones (pedobear@pennstatefootball.com) on Wed Jul 20th, 2011 at 07:02:17 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Cameron is riding the storm (none / 1)

So far, nobody has really tied this to the Tories. After all, everybody remembers how cosy Blair was with the Murdochs, so it's a case of "they're all in it up to their necks" right now.

All Miliband has done is won the right to have his views heard without being automatically disregarded. To turn that into positive ratings he's got to take the next step, such as with his speech about linking the behaviour of bankers with that of Murdoch, of creating real policy alternatives and using those as the foundation for attacking the coalition.

But till he does that, all he's done is gone into parking orbit

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Wed Jul 20th, 2011 at 08:35:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]

It all looked so serious...but... It is going to end up as we Serbs would say "Mountains have moved - mouse was born"...Nothing. Few people (peons) will end up in jail, Murdocks are to learn their lesson, lose power significantly and some money in the process... For Rupert it would be great if he could retire and go fuck his young wife ( the second is impossible at his age I assume even with Viagra) but young Rupert has a future in front of him...It does not have to be in media tho...
All three of them had such a straight face while they were lying to committee (committee? big deal ;)) they would be great to enter politics...
Anyway we will be well prepared for the shocks (mostly of economic nature) in front of us that will be much more significant to our livelihoods then this old saga about journalists with no morals...or Police with no morals...or politicians with no morals...What else is new under the sun?

by vbo on Tue Jul 19th, 2011 at 09:24:35 PM EST

Seize the chance for media reform - FT.com

Yes,I would agree with you up to a point.

I don't think anybody really expected anything yesterday, the MPs are neither trained nor practiced inquisitors such as you'd expect from a prosecution lawyer. So the chance that they might dent the expensively coached shells of the Murdochs was always going to be slim.

No, yesterday was really just a sideshow, morale for the troops etc etc. Today will see the beginning of what might transpire in the future as Miliband tries to define the terms of the judge-led inquiry. This should have real legal force and will involve levels of detail and inquisition that yesterday's little set-piece could never aspire to achieving. But it's all down to the devil in the detail of the terms of reference. Too many of them, Iraq, Kelly, cash for honours etc etc have parameters that are almost deliberately constrained to avoid implicating the guilty. That will be the test of where it goes from here.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Wed Jul 20th, 2011 at 05:58:39 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Moral of story: (none / 1)

any media-owning business entity that has enough power, influence and reach, over both the political and police spheres, to ensure that its illegal actions go uninvestigated and unpunished, is a manifest and imminent danger to democracy and must be dismantled.

(cough cough Berlusconi cough)

European legislation would be good.

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue
- Queen Elizabeth II}

by eurogreen on Wed Jul 20th, 2011 at 05:46:34 AM EST

Re: Moral of story: (none / 1)

This case has shown that media are blackmailing rackets waiting to happen.

Economics is politics by other means

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed Jul 20th, 2011 at 05:50:47 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Moral of story: (none / 1)

And the logical conclusion is that media conglomerates should be flat-out illegal.

A scummy yellow muckraking rag like News of the Screws has a right to exist. On condition that it doesn't go bankrupt losing court cases. Which, of course, it would, if not owned by someone powerful enough to pervert the course of justice.

An almost overlooked salutary side-effect to the scandal is that the Murdochs lost their bid to a monopoly over UK satellite TV : they still only have a stranglehold on it. They need to lose this, of course.

No doubt the era of Murdoch's supremacy in the UK is over; they need to seize the opportunity to codify it so the nightmare can never happen again.

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue
- Queen Elizabeth II}

by eurogreen on Wed Jul 20th, 2011 at 06:14:24 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Moral of story: (none / 0)

well they can re-apply in six months

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Wed Jul 20th, 2011 at 06:37:09 AM EST
[ Parent ]

hey hey Martin Wolf agrees with me (none / 1)

It is not enough to settle scores with the playground bully even though his misbehaviour has been so egregious. It is essential to design a structure of regulation that preserves freedom for the media, while curbing abuse, including concentrations of unaccountable power. The media are too important to be left to the mercies of politicians or judges. But they are also too important to be left to dominant proprietors. The UK has a golden opportunity to strike a new balance. If it does so, this scandal might yet bear rich fruit.

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue
- Queen Elizabeth II}

by eurogreen on Thu Jul 21st, 2011 at 07:40:41 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: hey hey Martin Wolf agrees with me (none / 1)

According to one of the Tory members of the committee who I asked Earlier. Evidence of similar activity by both the Sun and the Mirror has been supplied to the police

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Thu Jul 21st, 2011 at 03:23:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: hey hey Martin Wolf agrees with me (none / 1)

sun and mirror? I meant mail and mirror

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Thu Jul 21st, 2011 at 03:40:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]

This morning (so far) the fight appears to have moved on to between Cameron and the Palace

0915:
Mr Bryant says "very senior people at Buckingham Palace" expressed concern about David Cameron taking Andy Coulson into Downing Street, concerns which "got to senior figures at Downing Street".

0924:
Back to Chris Bryant now, and the sourcing of his claims on the BBC that "very senior people at Buckingham Palace" were concerned about David Cameron taking former News of the World editor Andy Coulson into Downing Street.
Mr Bryant says it's from a "very good source", albeit an indirect one. He says he had "spoken to the person who spoke to the person".

0942: Laura Kuenssberg Chief political correspondent, BBC News channel
Buckingham Palace are unlikely to want to get involved in this whole thing, but perhaps the tone of any statement, or the lack of any statement, might give us clues to whether or not there's anything in this.

1033:
More on Labour MP Chris Bryant's claims that Buckingham Palace had expressed concern over Mr Coulson's appointment as No 10's communications director. A Downing Street source says at no point did the Palace try to warn officials at No 10 or of Mr Cameron's political team against the appointment.

1041:
More on Chris Bryant's suggestion that Buckingham Palace had expressed concerns about the appointment of Andy Coulson. A Palace spokeswoman says: "No royal officials raised concerns about Mr Coulson's appointment with Downing Street. We do not comment on the private conversations of members of the royal family."

1042: Peter Hunt Royal correspondent, BBC News
Royal sources have called the suggestion the Queen might have got involved "really speculative" and urged that people view the idea with "caution".

Its very very unusual for palace advice to get out in public, and if it didn't call attention to Camerons apparent bad judgement, the more royal interested tory commentators would be shouting and screaming about a constitutional crisis

Senior Royal by the way is the code phrase for one of three royals, either the queen, Prince Philip, or Prince Charles.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Wed Jul 20th, 2011 at 06:28:52 AM EST

Tho' we'll never know, this sounds like the sort of behind the scenes meddling for which Charles is becoming notorious.

The Queen is far too canny and Phillip probably doesn't even know what the NotW is.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Wed Jul 20th, 2011 at 08:30:34 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Twitter / @ajrhayman: Ha, Murdoch's horns .. lov ...

Ha, Murdoch's horns .. love it twitpic.com/5sxqc1 #hackgate (via @SophieRDownes )

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Wed Jul 20th, 2011 at 09:28:56 AM EST

Murdoch Connection `Does Not Present an Ethical Dilemma' For World's Largest Bible Publisher

GRAND RAPIDS, MI (ANS) -- As Rupert Murdoch presides over the News Corp media empire and is a desperate fight for his reputation after being forced to close his scandal-laden British newspaper News of the World, the most widely read English tabloid in the world, it has now been revealed that Murdoch also owns Zondervan, the world's largest publisher of Bibles.
Actually, Zondervan, is owned by Harper Collins Publishers, which is owned by News Corp., which in turn is owned by the world's biggest media tycoon, Rupert Murdoch
In its mission statement, Zondervan identifies itself as a Christian company committed to glorifying Jesus Christ and promoting biblical principles through its publications.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Wed Jul 20th, 2011 at 10:22:19 AM EST

Whenever it suits him, Murdoch professes to believe in all that stuff

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Wed Jul 20th, 2011 at 12:40:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]