Is this Armageddon for Murdoch and NewsCorp?

Oh dear, it's really not looking terribly good for Jeremy Hunt is it?

All those emails (more than 200 of them) between his Special Adviser and News Coprs lobbyist Frederic Michel, and those buddy buddy texts between Mr Michel (oh Jeremy, you were "great at the Comons today" and Jeremy's responses to such flattery: "Merci. Large drink tonight" etc) were bad enough, but now this:

When even The Mail says he "should have resigned last month" and other papers splash on the "smoking gun" memo, one can't help wondering how much longer this can continue.

After Vince Cable decided to refer the attempted BSkyB buy out to the regulator Ofcom, this is the memo Mr Hunt sent to the PM in November 2010:

"James Murdoch is pretty furious at Vince's referral to Ofcom. He doesn't think he will get a fair hearing from Ofcom. I am privately concerned about this because News Corp are very litigious and we could end up in the wrong place in terms of media policy. Essentially what James Murdoch wants to do is to repeat what his father did with the move to Wapping and create the world's first multiplatform media operator available from paper to web to TV to iPhone to iPad. Isn't this what all media companies have to do ultimately? And if so we must be very careful that any attempt to block it is done on plurality grounds and not as a result of lobbying by competitors.

"The UK has the chance to lead the way on this as we did in the 80s with the Wapping move but if we block it our media sector will suffer for years. In the end I am sure sensible controls can be put into any merger to ensure there is plurality but I think it would be totally wrong to cave into the Mark Thompson/Channel 4/Guardian line that this represents a substantial change of control given that we all know Sky is controlled by News Corp now anyway.

"What next? Ofcom will issue their report saying whether it needs to go to the Competition Commission by 31 December. It would be totally wrong for the government to get involved in a competition issue which has to be decided at arm's length. However I do think you, I, Vince and the DPM [deputy prime minister] should meet to discuss the policy issues that are thrown up as a result."

The following month, after Mr Cable was caught by two Telegraph reporters rather foolishly claiming to be "at war" with the Murdochs, Mr Cameron appointed Jeremy Hunt to oversee the bid.

The Culture Secretary should have been acting in a "quasi-judicial role", that means with the impartiality of a judge. He insists he did so.

Jeremy Hunt will himself be giving evidence to Leveson in due course, and so too will the Prime Minister, who insists he had absolutely no influence over or role in the attempt by News Corp to buy the 61% of bSkyB it did not already own.

Posted at 01:33 PM ET, 05/21/2012
‘Rebekah Brooks, the Movie’: Can she play herself?

By Delia Lloyd


LONDON — Britain’s phone hacking scandal truly is the gift that keeps on giving. On Sunday, news broke from the Cannes Film Festival that “Rebekah Brooks: The Movie” will be coming soon to a theater near you.

Most people know Rebekah Brooks as Rupert Murdoch’s erstwhile girl Friday in the British arm of his media empire, News Corp. Until July of last year, she served as chief executive at the London-based News International, before abruptly resigning over her alleged role in the phone-hacking scandal.

Brooks was charged last week on three separate counts of obstruction of justice, including conspiring to remove boxes of archive records from Murdoch’s London headquarters, concealing material from detectives, and hiding documents, computers and other electronic equipment from the police. The charge carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, although the average term served is 10 months.

There’s no question that Brooks is the perfect subject for a film. With her flowing, auburn ringlets and mysteriously cool — almost detached — demeanor, she looks like she stepped out of a Botticelli portrait.

The movie is apparently inspired by a profile by Suzanna Andrews in the February issue of Vanity Fair detailing Brooks’s meteoric rise from secretary at Murdoch-owned British tabloid News of the World to international businesswoman extraordinaire in just over 20 years. Early rumors say that producers have tapped Nicole Kidman for the role.

But make no mistake. This is no “Working Girl, Part 2.” Brooks, who is typically described as “ruthless,” “Machiavellian” and “a galaxy-class schmoozer” has — for the purposes of the film, at least — already been likened to the notorious title character in Citizen Kane as well as to Richard Nixon.

In addition to her alleged criminal misdeeds in various senior positions within the News Corp. family, Brooks’s larger-than-life social life will no doubt figure prominently in the film. There will, of course, be all sorts of references to her unusually close relationship with Murdoch himself. (She is often referred to as his “fifth daughter.”) Brooks has also been close pals with the U.K.’s past three prime ministers. This includes David Cameron, who went to Eton College with her husband, Charlie Brooks, a prominent horse trainer who has also been charged with obstruction of justice along with his wife.

Needless to say, (and because this is England), everybody around Brooks is descended from somebody important. Her husband is related to King Edward III. There’s even a horse to work into the plot, as Cameron once famously borrowed a horse that was loaned to Mrs. Brooks by the Metropolitan police. (Seriously, folks. Could you write a story about the British aristocracy and its hangers-on without the requisite horse?)

Brooks’s appearance outside her lawyer’s London office last week following the charges suggests that she will not go down without a fight. Standing next to her husband, she claimed to be “baffled” by the decision and dismissed the entire affair as an “expensive side show,” which her husband labeled a “witch hunt.”

This being a movie, we are of course required to speculate as to the other members of the cast in this juicy biopic. My money’s on Colin Firth in the role of the dashing playboy Charlie Brooks. As for the part of Rupert Murdoch, I would have bet on Jason Robards if he were still alive.

My only regret is that Brooks can’t play herself. I’m sure she’d shine.

Delia Lloyd is Senior Policy Manager at BBC Media Action. She blogs about adulthood at RealDelia.com, and you can follow her on Twitter @realdelia.

By Delia Lloyd | 01:33 PM ET, 05/21/2012

Tags: rebekah brookes, phone hacking scandal, rebekah brookes: the movie, news corp international













.

















































































































© 2011 The Washington Post Company

28 May 2012 Last updated at 01:59 Share this pageEmail Print Share this page
is of a "pact" between Mr Blair and Mr Murdoch have been previously denied at the inquiry by Lord Mandelson.

The inquiry is investigating the link between the media and politicians.

Mr Blair was the Labour party leader between 1994 and 2007, and was prime minister from 1997 to 2007, before being succeeded by Gordon Brown.

He is reported to have a close relationship with News Corporation chairman Mr Murdoch, which could form the basis of the scrutiny levelled by the inquiry's barristers.

The witness list also shows that Education Secretary Michael Gove, Home Secretary Theresa May, Business Secretary Vince Cable, Justice Secretary Ken Clarke and Mr Hunt are all due to appear before Lord Justice Leveson before 31 May.

'Sun backs Blair'

Mr Blair's relationship with Mr Murdoch first came into public view in 1995, when he travelled to Hayman Island in Australia to address News Corp executives.

The trip was part of a New Labour strategy to reach out to newspapers that had unfavourably portrayed previous leaders Michael Foot and Neil Kinnock.

It seemingly worked - in 1997, the Sun newspaper, owned by the Murdoch subsidiary News International, switched allegiance from the Conservative party to Labour.

Rupert Murdoch and his wife Wendi Deng asked Tony Blair to be godfather to their daughter Grace in March 2011
Giving evidence earlier in May, one of Mr Blair's former cabinet ministers Lord Mandelson told the inquiry he felt the relationship had "arguably" become "closer than wise".

But he dismissed claims of a "Faustian pact" involving commercial concessions for News Corp in return for support from its newspapers.

In April, Mr Blair's former press secretary Alistair Campbell also denied any kind of deal prior to the 1997 general election.

He told the inquiry: "I never was witness to, and I do not believe there was ever a discussion that said, 'now, Tony, if you do this and do this my papers will back you' - it just never happened."

During his evidence, Mr Campbell was also asked about three phonecalls, that took place between Mr Blair and Mr Murdoch in the run-up to the Iraq War in March 2003.

He dismissed suggestions that Mr Blair could not have pursued his defence policy without the backing of Mr Murdoch and the Sun as "complete nonsense"

I wonder if Theresa May will have the balls to admit that rebekeh brookes was 'blackmailing' her over the mccanns or will she chicken out and use the same word as brookes?

kitti wrote:I wonder if Theresa May will have the balls to admit that rebekeh brookes was 'blackmailing' her over the mccanns or will she chicken out and use the same word as brookes?

Morning Kitti, Theresa May is having a hard time as Home Secretary, the Airport Immigration fiasco....God knows what will happen when Tourists come flooding in for the Olympics. also, she was against a Review of the Madeleine case and was suggesting a scoping (whatever that is ) when Cameron
overruled her . Cameron is facing hard questions about Murdoch and could well face a backbench backlash for his involvement , so Theresa May could
well tell it like it is.

Tony Blair is the one I can't wait to watch , it should be available live on the usual link , I will look back on here for the last inquiry to find the link.
How much closer can you get to Murdoch than being Godfather to his child????? Whoever gave him the nickname Teflon Tony was spot on.

I can't remember the name of the other link , but this one is O.K.. they are just having a break but you watch Tony Blair when they start again, he
really is a s*** and completely not fooling anyone.

OMG! It all kicked off in court then!!
Someone shouting that Blair is a war criminal!! OMG!

http://www.thejournal.ie/watch-live-leveson-inquiry-hears-evidence-from-tony-blair-349644-May2012/

'e brought the link down for those just browsing. Perma Tan Tony, is being questioned about the Iraq war and looking decidedly uncomfortable.!!

Panda wrote:http://www.thejournal.ie/watch-live-leveson-inquiry-hears-evidence-from-tony-blair-349644-May2012/

'e brought the link down for those just browsing. Perma Tan Tony, is being questioned about the Iraq war and looking decidedly uncomfortable.!!

They have broken for lunch, back at 2pm. Tony Blair has tried to wriggle his way out of some frank questioning but isn't fooling anyone. Murdoch was
described by one of Tony's Spin doctor as the 24th Member of Tony;s Cabinet.

May 28, 8:49 AM EDT


UK police arrest woman over phone hacking

By RAPHAEL SATTER
Associated Press








LONDON (AP) -- Police investigating Britain's phone hacking scandal say they have arrested a woman on suspicion of money laundering offenses.

Metropolitan police said the 42-year-old was arrested Monday morning after being asked to go to a police station in south west London.

She was arrested as part of "Operation Weeting," the police name for their investigation into phone hacking at Rupert Murdoch's News International.

Former News International executive Rebekah Brooks and her husband Charlie were arrested in the same investigation in March.

Britain's scandal began in 2005 with the revelation that tabloid reporters had listened in to voicemail systems of aides to the royal family. It mushroomed last summer when it was revealed that hacking had been widespread at Murdoch's News of the World tabloid, which has since been shut.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair testified Monday he never challenged the influential British press because doing so would have plunged his administration in a drawn-out and politically damaging fight.

Blair led Britain from 1997 to 2007, and his Labour Party government has been criticized by many - including some of Blair's former colleagues - as having been too close to the country's powerful newspapers.

Blair, speaking under oath at an inquiry into media ethics, said the issue wasn't that he and Britain's journalistic elite were too cozy, but that he had to manage them carefully.

"You were in a position where you were dealing with very powerful people who had a big impact on the political system," Blair explained. "If they were against you, they were absolutely all-out against you."

Blair's testimony was briefly interrupted when a heckler burst in through a secure corridor behind inquiry leader Lord Justice Brian Leveson, shouting: "This man should be arrested for war crimes!" before being removed by security.

Leveson, looking ruffled, said he would investigate how the man managed to sneak in.

Blair's time in office was marked by a contentious relationship with the country's press, particularly after his deeply unpopular decision to invade Iraq alongside then-U.S. President George W. Bush.

But it was also marked by unusually warm relations between the left-wing Labour Party and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. - a company whose holdings include the populist The Sun newspaper and the right-wing Fox News network.

Blair became a godfather to one of Murdoch's children and his government has since been described by several colleagues as being too close to the media mogul for comfort.

Blair said Murdoch was just one of several media tycoons who could make life difficult if they weren't happy with a position he was taking. Blair, whose government was often criticized for trying to manipulate or bully the media, said what he was doing was trying to work around the power that newspapers wielded.

"I took the strategic decision to manage this, not confront it," he said.

Blair's appearance kicked off an important week at the judge-led inquiry. Several senior politicians have appeared at the investigation set up last year in the wake of a phone hacking scandal when it emerged that reporters at the Murdoch-owned News of the World tabloid had routinely hacked into the phones of public figure and crime victims.

The scandal has rocked Britain's establishment, leading to the arrest or resignation of dozens of journalists, media executives, political operatives and police, prison and military officials. It's also exposed a pattern of wrongdoing across the British press, from bribery to blackmail.

Leveson is examining whether politicians failed to curb the activities of renegade journalists because they were too close to the media - or too scared of it.

Current ministers including Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Education Minister Michael Gove and Home Secretary Theresa May will also testify this week.

© 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Panda wrote:
http://www.thejournal.ie/watch-live-leveson-inquiry-hears-evidence-from-tony-blair-349644-May2012

Protester disrupts Tony Blair evidence at Leveson inquiry


2 hours ago851 Views 6 Comments
Share Tweet



The protester (centre) is bundled from the room. Tony Blair can be seen seated at the left hand side of the room

Image: Screengrab via Leveson Inquiry

A PROTESTER HAS disrupted Tony Blair’s evidence at the Leveson inquiry into media ethics, calling the former British prime minister a ‘war criminal’.

Proceedings at the inquiry were disrupted for under a minute when the protester entered the room just after 12.15pm this afternoon and shouted about Blair’s links with JP Morgan and his role in the Iraq war.

The protester, who was identified as anti-Iraq war protester David Lawley Wakelin by Guardian journalist Lisa O’Carroll, was forcibly removed from the inquiry courtroom.

The protester remained behind a barrier several feet away from where Blair was giving evidence.

Lord Justice Leveson apologised to Blair and said that the protester should not have been able to access the room through a private corridor. Leveson told the inquiry that he would investigate how the protester gained access to the room.

Earlier Blair had told the inquiry into media ethics and practices about his relationship with the media, including how he had always been closer to Rupert Murdoch than to Rebekah Brooks, describing Murdoch as the “key decision maker”.

He criticised Brooks for the controversial Sarah’s Law campaign which she ran as editor of the News of the World in response to the murder of 8-year-old Sarah Payne in 2000.

Blair also told the inquiry that he had become closer to Murdoch after he had stepped down as prime minister in 2007. Blair is a godfather to one of Murdoch’s children, a situation which, he said, would not have happened while he was in office.

The former prime minister said that he hadn’t made public information about meetings he held with Murdoch or any other media people at the time, but said he believed in future that it would probably have been best to make all the information available immediately in the interests of transparency.



(Tony Blair moves to clarify a number of points made by the protester immediately after he was removed from the room. Screengrab via Leveson Inquiry)

Watch live: Leveson inquiry hears evidence from Tony Blair >

Shoeing, pieing and 7 other things politicians have had thrown at them > .

:13pm UK, Monday May 28, 2012

Mark White, home affairs correspondent

Tony Blair has denied striking a deal with Rupert Murdoch in return for support from the media tycoon's newspaper operation.
The former prime minister told the Leveson Inquiry there was a "deliberate strategy" within New Labour before the 1997 general election to improve relationships with what had been a broadly "Tory supporting" press.


There was no deal on issues to do with the media, either with Rupert Murdoch or anyone else within the media, either express or implied, and to be fair he never sought such a thing.


Tony Blair
Mr Blair, who led the party from 1994 to 2007, admitted the relationship with Mr Murdoch's News Corporation, which owns The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times, was key to that strategy but rejected suggestions any bargain had been agreed.


The politician, who left office five years ago, looked tanned and relaxed - even when his evidence was interrupted by an anti-war protester calling him a "war criminal".

He categorically denied the suggestion that he had made a deal with any media boss to ensure their support while he was leading the Labour party.


"There was no deal on issues to do with the media, either with Rupert Murdoch or anyone else within the media, either express or implied, and to be fair he never sought such a thing..," he said.

"When it came to the specific issues in relation to the Murdoch media group, we more often decided against them than in favour of them."


Mr Blair acknowledged he had dropped plans to look at cross-media ownership before coming to power but said this was because to do so would have harmed his government's policy objectives.



Tony Blair outside the Royal Courts of Justice

He told the inquiry that taking on the media would have "pushed out" policies he cared about, listing health, crime and education as his top concerns.

"If you're a political leader and you've got very powerful media groups and you fall out with one of those groups, the consequence is such that you... are effectively blocked from getting across your message," he said.


"I'm being open about the fact that frankly I decided as a political leader, and this was a strategic decision, that I was going to manage that and not confront it."


The former leader said the 1992 general election - which Labour lost - was "etched" on his memory and that he had been "absolutely determined" his party would not be subjected to the same "media onslaught" when he was leader.

This desire was a key motivator in his decision to fly to Hayman island off Australia in 1995 to address a conference of News Corporation executives.


This was unprecedented territory for a Labour leader, but he managed to achieve what no one else in his party ever has, almost a decade of broadly positive support from Rupert Murdoch's newspapers.


If you're a political leader and you've got very powerful media groups and you fall out with one of those groups, the consequence is such that you... are effectively blocked from getting across your message.

Tony Blair
Of the trip, he told the inquiry: "I would not have been going all the way round the world if it had not been a very deliberate and very strategic decision that I was going to try to persuade them, and I had a minimum objective.


"The minimum objective was to stop them tearing us to pieces and the maximum objective to open the way to support."

Despite having once compared the media with a feral beast, Mr Blair stressed that "at their best the best, British newspapers and journalists are as good as there is globally".

But he criticised the genre of journalism "where because this line between news and comment gets blurred, it stopped being journalism, it's an instrument of political power and propaganda."

On his relationship with Rupert Murdoch, Mr Blair said he would describe it as a "working relationship" while in office and that it had grown once he stepped down.



Rupert Murdoch and Tony Blair at a news conference in Washington, 2008

The Middle East envoy is now godfather to Rupert Murdoch's daughter Grace but says he never would have accepted that role while still being in full-time politics.


"Once you leave office the relationship can become different, and frankly healthier," he said.

The former Prime Minister also revealed to the inquiry that his wife had taken legal action against media reports about her on more than 30 occasions.

He said that some journalists had waged a "personal vendetta" against Cherie Blair, a former barrister.

Some of the comment, he said, had been legitimate, but at times it went too far.

Mr Blair said: "I think some of the papers, particularly the Mail group, took it too far and turned it into a personal vendetta."

He added: "I just don't think it is part of the political debate... the attacks on her and my children were unnecessary and wrong."

Mr Blair's testimony is the start of a week of evidence from political heavyweights, with Michael Gove, Theresa May, Vince Cable and Jeremy Hunt all due to appear.

.K. Police Add Money Laundering to Phone Hacking Probe
By Jonathan Browning - May 28, 2012 3:47 PM GMT+0100 Facebook Share LinkedIn Google +1 0 Comments
Print QUEUEQ
U.K. police widened their probe of phone hacking at News Corp. (NWSA)’s News of the World Sunday tabloid to include potential money laundering offenses.

The Metropolitan Police arrested a 42-year-old woman on suspicion of money laundering, according to a statement today. More than 20 people have so far been detained as part of Operation Weeting, the phone-hacking investigation.

Enlarge image U.K. Police Add Money Laundering to Phone Hacking Probe Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
About 30 people have been arrested as part of the probe into bribery of public officials by journalists at News Corp.’s daily Sun tabloid.

About 30 people have been arrested as part of the probe into bribery of public officials by journalists at News Corp.’s daily Sun tabloid. Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
News Corp., based in New York, shut the News of the World last year and abandoned its bid for the pay-television company British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc (BSY) after its journalists were revealed to have intercepted voice mail.

Police also have parallel probes into whether News Corp. journalists bribed public officials and hacked computers for stories. News Corp. spokeswoman Mary Kearney declined to comment on today’s arrest.

The investigation has led to charges against Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive officer of News Corp.’s British publishing unit, for perverting the course of justice. Ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson, who served as press chief to U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, has also been arrested.

Bribery Probe
About 30 people have been arrested as part of the probe into bribery of public officials by journalists at News Corp.’s daily Sun tabloid. News Corp.’s internal Management Standards Committee is providing information to the police after the company faced earlier criticism from victims that it sought to cover up the scandal.

Previous arrests in the bribery probe, dubbed Operation Elveden, included the Sun’s Royal editor, pictures editor, a chief reporter and an ex-member of the armed forces, as well as police officers.

The hacking affair emerged in 2006 with the arrest of the News of the World’s royal reporter Clive Goodman and the tabloid’s private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who both pleaded guilty and were jailed the following year. While News Corp.’s News International unit in the U.K. said the practice was contained, civil lawsuits filed by victims in 2010 revealed phone hacking was far more widespread.

A revealing look at Murdoch’s influence on British politics
A review by Dave Hyland
25 May 2012
Dial M for Murdoch: News Corporation and the corruption of Britain by Tom Watson and Martin Hickman, Allen Lane, 384 pp.

In a new book, Labour MP Tom Watson and Independent journalist Martin Hickman throw some light on the way in which politicians in the UK have bowed down before Rupert Murdoch’s wealth and power, as well detailing the incestuous relationship between his newspapers and a corrupt police force.

Dial M for Murdoch follows Watson in his role as a member of the Culture, Media and Sports Committee as he attempts to expose the pernicious influence the media mogul has had on UK politics and seeks to prevent News Corporation from winning the majority share ownership of satellite broadcaster BSkyB.

The figures outlining the size and influence of News Corp are staggering: “At the start of 2011, 1 billion people daily digested his products—books, newspapers, magazines, TV shows and films—and News Corporation, his holding company, had annual sales of $33 billion... In Britain, he had come to control 40% of national newspaper circulation... In his native Australia his domination was greater still; 70% of the newspaper market; while in his adopted United States, through the New York Post, the Wall Street Journal and the most watched cable news outlets, Fox News, Murdoch exerted a strong pull on American politics” (p. 5).

The authors explain how, prior to the 1997 General Election, the Tony Blair/Gordon Brown leadership of the Labour Party made overtures to the oligarch: “in 1995 Blair made a transcontinental pilgrimage to a News Corp conference on Hayman Island off Australia, where he spoke to the assembled executives of News Corporation and held talks with the Kingmaker... According to the diaries of Piers Morgan, the former News of the World editor, an apologetic Blair told him; ‘Piers, I had to court him. It is better to be riding a tiger’s back than let it rip your throat out. Look what Murdoch did to [former Labour leader Neil] Kinnock’ ” (p. 7).

As a result of external pressure over its 2006 White Paper, “What Price Privacy”, the Blair government dropped its plans for incorporating a custodial sentence for breaches of the Data Protection Act into the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill.

The police were well aware of the phone hacking taking place: “The News of the World even played a voicemail recording from [murdered schoolgirl] Milly’s [Dowler’s] phone to Surrey Police. Despite knowing the paper had accessed the inbox—which could have triggered the automatic deletion of evidence (because murderers sometimes leave taunting messages on victims’ phones)—Surrey took no action.”

Murdoch’s organisation made use of phone hackers, criminals and corrupt police officers to garner information to put pressure on individuals. Some of this was used to embellish press stories about celebrities, but the News of the World newspaper sought to use political information to pressurise those who opposed News International.

Dial M quotes one of the News of the World’s own documents. “Under the heading News of the World strategy, the document continued; ‘The News of the World is aware of these facts, and is planning to put pressure back on the solicitors by revealing these facts and by linking their political affiliations and career benefits from the cases. They plan to do this publicly and through discreet lobbying’” (p. 160).

Phone hacking was mainly directed at leading members of the Labour Party and trade union bureaucracy such as John Prescott, deputy leader of the Labour Party, and Fire Brigade Union leader Andy Gilchrist.

Tommy Sheridan, former Scottish Socialist Party leader, was also targeted. Watson briefed Sheridan prior to his three-hour interrogation of Andy Coulson, the prime minister’s former director of communications, because he feared that Sheridan had gone to jail because of misleading evidence and what is now known about the News of the World’s phone hacking means his perjury verdict is unsafe.

The News of the World reporter on royal affairs, Clive Goodman, and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire were sent to prison for hacking, but the authors point to the way the Crown Prosecution Services in collusion with the police manipulated evidence in the interests of protecting the interests of more senior figures:

“The Crown Prosecution Service file note dated 14th of July 2006 stated ‘the police have requested initial advice about the data produced and whether the case as it stands could be ring fenced to ensure that extraneous matters will not be dragged into the prosecution area’.”

By the July 25 the CPS had agreed privately with the police that the case should be “deliberately limited” to “less sensitive” witnesses. A senior Crown Prosecution Service lawyer wrote: “‘it was recognised early in this case that the investigation was likely to reveal a vast array of offending behaviour. However, the CPS and the police concluded that aspects of the investigation could be focused on a discrete area of offending relating to J. L. P. and HA [the royal aides] and the suspects Goodman and Mulcaire’” (p. 42).

An entire chapter is given over to the murder of detective Daniel Morgan in 1987. It has been alleged that suspects in the murder used their contacts with News of the World to subvert the investigation.

Morgan’s family have made no less than five attempts to make the government hold a public inquiry into his murder. Watson supports the call for a public inquiry and points out, “After 24 years, five investigations, 750,000 documents and the expenditure of £15 million, Scotland Yard has again failed to jail anyone for the murder of Daniel Morgan” (p. 168).

Watson and Hickman’s central contention is that Murdoch and his organisations have corrupted the institutions of politics and the police.

There is ample evidence of this. But Watson would like the reader to believe that for the last 30 years the institutions of the British capitalist state were simply the victims of Murdoch’s empire and that these institutions would be returned to health if only Murdoch’s malign influence was removed.

This is false. The political corruption of Labour, for example, stretches back over decades. It has acted as British imperialism’s major political prop. By the time Blair is quoted in 1995 as saying, “It is better to be riding the tiger’s back,” the material basis for national reformist parties and programmes had been destroyed by the objective developments in world economy. The Labour Party had become a hollowed-out shell, with all genuine socialist minded workers and youth having been driven out, expelled or dropping out in disgust at its continuous rightward lurch. The void left in “New Labour” was filled by middle class layers attracted by its right-wing programme.

Watson, a former president of the National Union of Students at Hull University and National Political Officer for the AEEU trade union, became a Labour MP in Blair’s second government. As supporter of Chancellor Gordon Brown, he rose to a position within the Cabinet Office. However, Watson’s siding with Brown against Blair in a factional battle would see him targeted by the Murdoch publishing empire.

In 2006, Watson won his case against the Sun newspaper, which accepted that it had defamed him and later settled out of court for a substantial sum of money. News International had to apologise for placing him under surveillance. That year Watson signed a letter to Blair, calling on him to resign and to end the uncertainty over his succession, i.e., by giving way to Brown. He was forced to resign from cabinet after refusing to withdraw his signature.

Along with Watson’s loyalty to Brown and his personal mistreatment, Watson’s opposition to Murdoch became bound up with concerns shared by others in ruling circles that the commercial and political power of the oligarch was becoming a threat to the general interest of British imperialism. In his position on the Culture, Media and Sports Committee, Watson became a staunch opponent of Murdoch’s takeover of BSkyB. This would mean that the country’s wealthiest broadcasters could then cross-promote the broadcaster’s 10 million subscribers, “giving his newspapers a ‘significant advantage over other Fleet Street papers’, while, at the £7.9 billion, ‘BSkyB and News International’s combined revenues would dwarf the BBC’s £3.6 billion and ITV’s £1.9 billion’.”

Dial M cites approvingly media analyst Claire Enders’ warning that Murdoch in Britain could match Silvio Berlusconi’s dominance over the media in Italy. In a rare show of agreement, the BBC, BT and the owners of the Guardian, Telegraph, Mirror and Mail group newspapers objected to Murdoch’s plan.

This issue came to define the deep divisions that exist within the British ruling class and shifted the factional dynamics within the ruling class towards Watson’s anti-Murdoch position. Huge amounts of money are at stake. This has already led to the sacking of one business secretary, Vince Cable, and could now lead to the forced resignation of another, Jeremy Hunt. Former News of the World editor and NI CEO Rebekah Brooks has been charged, along with others, with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

At a time of unprecedented social polarisation in Britain, the existing state and political arrangements are facing an increasingly difficult task holding in check the growing antagonisms between these warring factions.

The Leveson Inquiry is a quasi-legal political mechanism set up to buy the capitalist class time while its contending factions fight out their bitter ideological and political differences and the state settles on a new strategy. But it is an extremely dangerous manoeuvre for the bourgeoisie, as it’s forced to allow a brief period in which a shaft of daylight can illuminate some of the murkiest corners of its oppressive state apparatus.

Ever since the Faustian pact between Margaret Thatcher and Murdoch, successive governments have come to rely on his media empire as a weapon with which to manipulate public opinion and create the ideological climate suited to the unrestrained rule of the super-rich. But during the last decade the illegal methods employed by Murdoch’s employees—which are ultimately the product of this same lack of political restraint—have gone so far that they now threaten to destabilise the entire apparatus of rule.

Watson writes in the preface:

“As the book shows, I hope beyond any doubt, prime ministers, ministers, Parliament, the police, the justice system and the ‘free’ press became collectively defective when it came to investigating the activities of NewsCorp. Now that Murdoch’s corrupt grip on our national institutions is loosening, and thanks to the laser-beam focus of Lord Justice Leveson, who leads the public enquiry into this affair, these individuals and public bodies are belatedly starting to clean up their acts.”

With the weasel words “collectively defective” and high praise for “laser-beam focus of Lord Justice Leveson”, Watson seeks to hide the major responsibility of the Labour Party for the present catastrophic social situation facing workers and rekindle illusions in capitalist state institutions.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


5:17am UK, Wednesday May 30, 2012

Vince Cable will face questions at the Leveson Inquiry later over his handling of News Corporation's takeover bid for satellite broadcaster BSkyB.
The Liberal Democrat Cabinet minister was stripped of his responsibilities for the media in 2010 after being secretly recorded saying he had "declared war" on News Corp boss Rupert Murdoch.

His removal led to the handover of quasi-judicial oversight over the bid to Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who had previously expressed public support for the takeover to go ahead.

Mr Hunt will give his account of his handling of the bid tomorrow, in what is expected to be one of the most dramatic days yet of the inquiry into media standards and the relationship between politicians and the press.

The Culture Secretary insists that he oversaw the process "with scrupulous fairness throughout" and has received strong backing from the Prime Minister.

But David Cameron has also said that if anything arises from the inquiry that suggests the ministerial code might have been breached, he will call in his independent ethics adviser Sir Alex Allan or take immediate action himself.

Mr Cable narrowly escaped with his job in December 2010 when he told two undercover reporters from The Daily Telegraph that he was seeking to block News Corp's attempt to buy the 61% of BSkyB which it did not already own, by referring the bid to regulators Ofcom.

"I have declared war on Mr Murdoch, I think I'll win," he said.

Mr Cable is expected to be challenged over whether he gave News Corp a fair hearing.

And he may also be asked about the ethics of the journalistic "sting" which caught him out.

Also giving evidence to Lord Justice Leveson will be Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke.

Coulson Detained Over Perjury Allegations

10:27am UK, Wednesday May 30, 2012

Former News Of The World editor Andy Coulson has been detained over allegations of perjury.
Mr Coulson was held on suspicion of committing perjury during the Tommy Sheridan trial at the High Court in Glasgow, the Crown Office said.

David Cameron's former communications chief was detained in London by officers from Strathclyde Police.

Coulson gave evidence in Mr Sheridan's perjury trial at the High Court in Glasgow in December 2010.

He was also arrested last year in relation to Scotland Yard's long-running investigation into phone-hacking at the News Of The World.

Coulson was held in July on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications and corruption and had his bail extended earlier this month.

More follows...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/house_of_commons/newsid_8167000/8167511.stm


Vince Cable is being questioned.

:55pm UK, Wednesday May 30, 2012

Sophy Ridge, political correspondent

Vince Cable has claimed News Corporation made "veiled threats" to his colleagues that the Lib Dems would be "done over" if he did not approve the bid to take over BSkyB.

In his evidence to the Leveson Inquiry, the Business Secretary said there was "a sense of being under siege from a well-organised operation" when he was handling the BSkyB bid.

The Cabinet minister said he heard about the alleged threats "indirectly and directly" from colleagues and believed they emerged "in conversation" with News Corp lobbyist Frederic Michel, adding "but I can't be absolutely certain".

Rhodri Davies, News Corp's counsel, said: "Without knowing who is supposed to have been threatened and when, it's extremely difficult for Mr Michel or anyone else to respond to the allegation."

:: Read back through the live blog






Mr Cable was removed from his quasi-judicial role overseeing the bid after being secretly recorded by the Daily Telegraph in December 2010 saying he had "declared war" on Rupert Murdoch.

The role was then handed to Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who has come under fire himself for expressing support for News Corp and over his office's contact with Mr Michel.

In his witness statement, Mr Cable said the comments about Mr Murdoch were "making the point, no doubt rather hyperbolically, that l had no intention of being intimidated.

"Clearly, I should not have volunteered my unprompted opinion, even in a private, confidential conversation."

He said the remarks were an attempt to show that he could not be influenced or intimidated by News Corporation, but accepted that he had gone too far.

"I do understand that the remarks I made did create a perception of bias and therefore made it difficult for me to continue," the politician told the probe into media ethics.

"I fully understand that. I don't mean to say that I would have been biased. I would not have been. But, nonetheless, there was a perception issue and that had to be taken into account."

:: See more about the inquiry at our dedicated page

The Business Secretary also said that he believed the Murdochs have a "disproportionate influence" on politicians and that the leaders of political parties had become too close to them.

He said he rejected approaches by News Corporation to meet and discuss its attempts to take over BSkyB, saying that he considered a meeting with James Murdoch would have been "inappropriate".

And he denied that he had met with other parties who were interested in preventing the acquisition and said he had instructed everyone to put their case in writing.











More From Our Journalists


Sophy RidgePolitical CorrespondentClick to view
Robert NisbetEurope CorrespondentClick to view















Sam KileyDefence and Security EditorClick to view
<>

The Business Secretary insisted that politicians could still think independently even if they had their own views and opinions on issues they were having to handle.

"With an independent mind doesn't mean with a blank mind. Most people in public life have views, opinions," he said.

He insisted his handling of the takeover bid had been conducted entirely fairly, saying: "All the decisions in the department were subject to advice from officials (and) departmental lawyers, because they were conscious that if a decision was made with bias or perceived bias then legal action could be taken, in this case through the Competition Appeals Tribunal - equivalent to a judicial review."

News Corp had wanted to buy the remaining 39% of BSkyB, which owns Sky News, that it does not already hold but abandoned the bid last summer after the phone hacking row escalated.

Mr Cable also insisted that his special adviser had "no responsibilities to speak for me" about the takeover.

This issue will be central during Mr Hunt's evidence on Thursday.

His special adviser Adam Smith was forced to resign after it emerged he had been in repeated contact with Mr Michel about the bid.

Mr Hunt has been left fighting for his job after revelations about his department's contact with News Corporation and his own views about the takeover.

The Culture Secretary, who had asked to give his evidence early to put his side of the story, will argue that his handling of the bid was entirely above board.

ANDY COULSON HAS BEEN ARRESTED AND IS BEING QUESTIONED AND DETAINED IN GLASGOW FOR PERJURY.

Yes Badboy. I posted this earlier

Coulson Detained Over Perjury Allegations

10:27am UK, Wednesday May 30, 2012

Former News Of The World editor Andy Coulson has been detained over allegations of perjury.
Mr Coulson was held on suspicion of committing perjury during the Tommy Sheridan trial at the High Court in Glasgow, the Crown Office said.

David Cameron's former communications chief was detained in London by officers from Strathclyde Police.

Coulson gave evidence in Mr Sheridan's perjury trial at the High Court in Glasgow in December 2010.

He was also arrested last year in relation to Scotland Yard's long-running investigation into phone-hacking at the News Of The World.

Coulson was held in July on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications and corruption and had his bail extended earlier this month.

More follows...

I AM FAILING TO KEEP UP,PERHAPS ITS THE WEATHER IS PARTLY TO BLAME.

I think they can only keep him until 12 o'clock tonight, then they have to either charge or let him go!! Il be up watching the news on sky at 12.15am