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…
Is the hacking scandal really Britain’s Watergate? As Twitter followers will know the Indy’s @JohnRentoul has created a whole niche on the net with his QTWTAIN – questions to which the answer is no. Every time these are brought to his attention he seems to produce disapproving tweet and I think I hold the record for being singled out. So what does he think tomorrow’s Independent front page. We await his Tweet. Mike Smithson
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…
Where Does Re-toxification Leave the PM? It must hurt for the Prime Minister. No politician wants to be out of step with the electorate or at odds with the public mood, especially when it risks turning into rage. David Cameron, the first public relations professional to lead a developed nation, will be more sensitive than most. Allegations of press phone-hacking into the voicemail of murdered children, terrorist victims and fallen servicemen and women cuts through to the public and has…
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…
Guardian What will this do to Cameron’s position? The latest development in the hacking affair is a report in the Guardian that ex-Number 10 Communication Director, Andy Coulson is to arrested tomorrow. The paper reports: “Andy Coulson has been told by police that he will be arrested on Friday morning over suspicions that he knew about, or had direct involvement in, the hacking of mobile phones during his editorship of the News of the World. The Guardian understands that a…