Would it have been different if Dave hadn’t appointed Coulson? I certainly hold by that view. It was the presence of Coulson as Cameron’s key advisor that first “gave legs” to the whole hacking story. Then that was magnified when after the election Cameron made the ex-NOTW editor the Number 10 head of communications. HAT-TIP for picture to @NickMartinTV. Mike Smithson
Will it be Ed up and Dave down? Everybody it seems at the moment is coming out with the old Harold Wilson quote about “a week being a long time in politics” and the past seven days, surely, have been almost without precedent. So how will the week’s events have impacted on the poll findings that for me are by far the best indicator of opinion – the leadership ratings? We’ll have to wait a week or so for the…
Where do the developments so far leave the key players? The phone-hacking scandal has produced a bad week for many people. Some have been arrested, some tainted by association, some have lost their job, some have had their judgement questioned. A newspaper of 168 years standing has been closed. Others no doubt wait nervously. It’s big and dramatic news – perhaps too much so. Retaining a sense of proportion at times like this is crucial and difficult, not least because…
Could she say something at the 4pm staff meeting? Surprisingly very few bookies have been ready to put up hacking scandal markets. One that has, Victor Chandler is offering 2/5 that Rebekah Brooks will not be in her post by the month end and 7/4 that she will. Given the widely reported staff meeting at News International at 4pm I just wonder whether we could get some news this afternoon. The pressure on her must have been over-whelming. If VC…
Is it conceivable that he could be the next cabinet exit? The hacking saga has moved dramatically overnight with the reports that former News of the World editor and the man who was the Number 10 communications chief from May last year until January, Andy Coulson, could be arrested today. If that is correct then it brings it very close to David Cameron – who first appointed Coulson while he was opposition leader and then took him to Downing Street…
What’ll this do to the companies’ share prices? Channel 4 news is reporting that according to police estimates there are potentially upwards of 4,000 victims of the hacking scandal. Clearly we won’t know the details of each case but many, if not most of the victims, could have some sort of legal redress against News International or one of the other media organisations. Given the reported pay-outs so far, all settled quietly out of court, then we could be talking…
More of Marf’s work can be found at LondonSketchbook.com. Both Prints and originals of her PB drawings are available at good prices.
Telegraph Is the Peter Oborne verdict correct? Amongst the mass of coverage this morning on the hacking scandal the piece that for me stands out is the one by Peter Oborne in the Daily Telegraph in which he looks at the impact on Cameron from the affair. Oborne asserts that “.the series of disgusting revelations concerning his friends and associates from Rupert Murdoch’s News International has permanently and irrevocably damaged his reputation.” He goes on:” Until now it has been…