Andy Coulson: Making A British Watergate From Old News And Newsmen – Round-Up
ANDY Coulson: And on it goes. The Guardian, BBC and Independent’s three-pronged attempt to open a new inquiry in whether or not Coulson, David Cameron’s media handler, knew about the phone hacking when he was NoTW editor.
The news is partisan, biased and shaped by a political agenda. You can see the strings moving the puppets.
Labour MP, Madeleine Moon, called the controversy “the British Watergate”. And, no, she wasn’t joking.
Here’s the round-up:
Bigger Than War
If Theresa May had been a luckier politician she might have faced an easier challenge on her first day back at Westminster: solving world hunger perhaps, persuading the Taliban to take up knitting or smuggling Tony Blair into Waterstone’s.
Instead the home secretary got a big, black binliner full of stinking political rubbish dumped into her lap, the kind of raw material that News of the World reporters tiptoe away with from the dustbins of their victims. – Michael White, Guardian
Move Along – Nothing To See Here
The Metropolitan Police and Crown Prosecution Service do not believe that any relevant new “evidence” has emerged despite Labour calls for the investigation to be reopened, The Daily Telegraph has learnt.
Mr Coulson is expected to meet detectives to discuss the latest allegations to “put the matter to bed, once and for all”, said a Whitehall source. The meeting is expected to take place within the next few weeks. – Telegraph
I See Evidence Of Evidence
I cannot see why Yates of the Yard has not launched a fresh inquiry already. Evidence has surfaced since the police completed their previous investigation. Or perhaps there was evidence that the police chose to ignore the last time around. – Steve Richards, Indy
The Lefties
Andy Coulson, David Cameron’s communications chief, looks secure in his job at the moment, for all the huffing and puffing about him at The Guardian and the BBC, its broadcasting stablemate – Tim Walker, Telegraph
The New York Times Cares About British Politics?
On former NoTW hack Sean Hoare’s claims that Colson knew all about it:
The New York Times today refused to hand over evidence on the phone-tapping scandal to Scotland Yard. The US paper, which broke the latest claims about alleged illegal news gathering at the News of the World, said it had declined a formal request for information to back up its allegations – This Is London
This Is About Rupert
Now Michael Wolff, the American writer of The Man Who Owns the
News, a biography of Rupert Murdoch, has suggested that the management structure of News International, the company which owns the News of the World, is such that if Coulson knew his journalists were hacking into the voicemail accounts of high-profile figures, then so did his CEO.Wolff writes: “In the chain of command at News International, if Andy Coulson knew something then his mentor and boss, Rebekah Brooks, knew it, and if Rebekah knew it, then James Murdoch knew it (this is a very tight office and social circle), and if James knew it, then his father [Rupert] knew it.” – First Post
The Leaked Memo
Stephen Rimmer, the Home Office director general for crime and policing, warned that Scotland Yard would “deeply resent” a review of its investigation by the inspectorate and that it would send a message that “we do not have full confidence” in the Met.
The email of 13 July 2009 to Richard Westlake, Johnson’s private secretary from Rimmer:
“My own advice on this remains that there are insufficient grounds to do so … and that the Met would deeply resent what they would see as ‘interference’ in an operational investigation which could, of course, be revived at any given time.”
Is that a scandal?
Says Johnson:
“Last year I was assured that the Metropolitan police service had not received any allegations in respect of other News of the World journalists. I was also told that the Metropolitan police had taken all proper steps to ensure that where there was evidence of phone tapping or suspicion of phone tapping the individuals concerned would be informed.”
Says Theresa May, the current home secretary:
“Any police investigation is an operational matter in which ministers have no role. The Metropolitan police have indicated that if there is further evidence, they will look at it. That is the right course of action and it is right for the government to await the outcome.” – Guardian
Mr Coulson Says
The Mirror produces the loaded headline:
David Cameron’s ‘phone tap’ aide: I will tell police all I know
A spokesman for Mr Coulson said he had not been contacted by the police but was “happy to voluntarily meet with them following allegations made by Sean Hoare. “Mr Coulson emphatically denies these allegations” – Mirror
And so it goes that the media is talking about one of their own who went on top get a high-profile job at the top of Government. Envy? Nah! It’s just the facts, yer honour…
Posted: 7th, September 2010 | In: Politicians Comment (1) | TrackBack | Permalink
