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Tag Archives: andy coulson phone hacking
Andy Coulson is toast!
The Scrapbook team have been looking forward to producing the image above for some time now.*
Congratulations in particular to parliamentary inquisitor Tom Watson and press inquisitor Nick Davies.
*Cave-dwellers may be intrigued to discover that he’s resigned.
What you won't be reading in the News Of The World any time soon
Apologies for the lack of posts today.
Is this why the Met won't pursue Coulson over phone hacking?
With new phone hacking allegations against the News of the World filed with the High Court this week, the Financial Times’ leader column today claims “there remains a need for a deeper inquiry” into the activities of the newspaper under the leadership of Andy Coulson. With Scotland Yard announcing that the investigation remains closed, the influential paper questions the enthusiasm of Inspector Knacker to mount a proper inquiry:
One puzzling aspect of this affair has been the reluctance of the police to pursue a wider investigation into hacking at the News of the World. This is in spite of claims by a variety of parties that they have ample evidence, including phone records and data belonging to public figures.
But the complete lack of cojones on the part of the police comes as no surprise to Scrapbook. As our montage of newspaper front pages went viral in the wake of the tuition fees protests one in particular raised our eyebrows: Murdoch’s other British red top used the incident as a pretext to launch a searingly personal attack on Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson. With a front page and double inside spread - complete with pictures of senior officers - The Sun screamed:
BRAINLESS … that’s the yobs who hijacked uni demo AND Met chief who let them
I (DIDN’T) PREDICT A RIOT. Top cop ‘embarassed’
Indeed, as more evidence landed on Scotland Yard’s doorstep, The Guardian reported one internal press officer “waving his arms in the air” as he stressed the primacy of the department’s “long-term relationship with News International”.
Is it any surprise the Met are running scared?
Channel 4 Dispatches tonight at 8pm: fatal for Coulson?
Dispatches’ expose on David Cameron’s top spinner Andy Coulson is to be screened in a few moments on Channel 4:
“Dispatches examines allegations that during Andy Coulson’s time as editor of News of the World, phone hacking was a routine practice at the paper and carried out with his knowledge.
Political journalist Peter Oborne investigates the paper’s working relationship with the police and claims of undue influence together with claims of intimidation against politicians, and explores the broader links between News International and the current government.”
The lack of coverage from the some of the mainstream media has raised eyebrows. Shamik Das reports for Left Foot Forward:
“Despite being press released well in advance, hardly any media outlets are running the story – it only appears in the Guardian, Mail, Independent and New Statesman. Not even the BBC is covering it … This is not the first time potentially damaging stories about Mr Coulson have been ignored by the BBC and the Murdoch empire. Last month, Left Foot Forward reported the media silence over similar claims about his involvement in phone tapping made in the New York Times.”
Scrapbook suspects David Cameron will live to regret these words:
“He’s one of my staff I take full responsibility for him.”
William Hill give 2/1 on Coulson going by Christmas
While Smarkets offer odds on Andy Coulson’s departure from Downing Street before Tory conference on 3rd October, the real endgame would likely be played out on a longer timescale. When asked by Scrapbook, William Hill priced his exit before the end of the year at 2/1 – much better value than the 36% on offer with Smarkets.
With the next set piece coming when David Cameron is confronted on phone hacking for the first time at PMQs on Wednesday, this is a story that will run for months. While a paper trail incriminating Coulson has so far eluded investigators, the testimony of Sean Hoare, Ross Hall, Paul McMullan (and others) could tip the balance.
This may well be worth a punt.
Cartoon: Steve Bell
Crucial new phone hacking witness comes forward
Benedict Brogan is among many to have observed, in relation to the growing rancour around Andy Coulson, that there is a big difference between investigative journalism and the hard, on-the-public-record evidence required for a prosecution:
“Nothing we have read or heard since the NYT published its report suggests there is enough new material to justify CPS charges” – Benedict Brogan
The only new eyewitness to have come forward, Sean Hoare, has been dismissed by Conservatives as a sacked NOTW hack with substance abuse problems and an axe to grind. But this picture may have changed this evening with the emergence of Ross Hall, who transcribed phone tapes while Andy Coulson was editor. Hall was unable to testify to a previous select committee inquiry as he was out of the UK.
The Guardian has the story:
Ross Hall, a former employee who until now has been silent, told the Guardian tonight he was willing to talk to Scotland Yard and to the newly-announced home affairs select committee inquiry by MPs: “If asked, I will tell them what I know.” Metropolitan police sources said they planned to interview him.
Hall had been named in a previous MPs’ inquiry as the man who transcribed swaths of hacked voicemail messages for other journalists, including the tabloid’s chief reporter, Neville Thurlbeck.
This could go on for months.
Those who would profit from Coulson’s demise are already taking an interest.
Video: Fox Business News pop Coulson question to Rupert Murdoch
UPDATE: As Jon Bernstein points out at The Staggers, this clip is not from the last few days but from July 2009 when the scandal also reared its ugly head. It’s still well worth a watch though.
With the Murdoch stable in the UK looking the other way on Andy Coulson it comes as something of a surprise to see Fox Business News putting their proprietor on the spot over News Of The World phone hacking. British-American anchor Stuart Varney’s exchange with the Dirty Digger may be slightly fawning but he did have the cojones to open up the interview below with a line of questioning that Murdoch clearly wasn’t expecting:
Stuart Varney: Mr. Chairman, thanks very much for joining us. We appreciate it, Sir … The story that is really buzzing all around the country and certainly here in New York is that the News Of The World, a News Corporation Newspaper in Britain, used… [interrupted]
Rupert Murdoch: I’m not talking about that issue at all today, I’m sorry.
SV: Okay. No worries, Mister Chairman that’s fine with me!
RM: I’m too far removed out of here.
Perhaps not a great career move on the part of Mr. Varney.
Hat-tip: Alan Rusbridger