The more I hear and read of the 'phone-hacking' saga, the more I despair.
Ignoring all the sordid details, what is most depressing is to have confirmation that our press are so willing to subvert any semblance of morality for a good story, that our police are apparently so corrupt as to happily sell information to the aforementioned press and, worst of all, that our political masters are 'in-bed' with the leading figures of the same press.
Many of us have probably had a pretty low opinion of all 3 institutuions for many years, however, to receive such damning confirmation of our worst fears is hardly welcome news. What we now have is a news organisation in terminal decline, a police service in turmoil and a Prime Minister so damaged as to be impotent.
News International is surely dead in the water. It's very recently departed chief executive, Rebekah Brooks, has been arrested today, following in the footsteps of the Prime Minister's other friend, Andy Coulson, as well as several other News of the World executives and reporters; it can only be a matter of time before the police come calling on James Murdoch, son of the organisation's patriarch. The scandal seems likely to spread to the US where the Murdoch empire is based and, if wrong-doing is found there, the literal wrath of God will be visited upon it. Not only will the British end of Rupert Murdoch's operations be under threat, but so will his entire life's work. Whether or not any of those currently implicated in wrong-doing will eventually be tried, found guilty and imprisoned is another matter, however, the damage has already been done.
As for the police, the scandal has, today, cost Sir Paul Stephenson, Metropolitan Police Commisoner, his job. Sir Paul made the fatal mistake of hiring a former News of the World employee, Neil Wallis, to be his adviser and he now sees this as a possible impediment to the ongoing investigation. In resigning, Sir Paul will, no doubt, be taking early retirement on a large pension, a significant cushion to the blow of having to give up his job, though he could still find himself embroiled in the ongoing saga. There can be little doubt that some police officers have had various degrees of involvement with the press over many years, not all of it legal, and any proper investigation is likely to produce an awful lot of dirty washing. Sir Paul will almost certainly find himself giving evidence in the future, as will many of his former colleagues.
When we come to the political involvement in all of this, we have to wonder just how far our 'wannabe' leaders have sunk in order to gain power. We all now know that the Murdochs and their upper echelons have been wined and dined by a succession of Prime Ministers and party leaders; we also know that the now suspect Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks are close friends of the family of the current Prime Minister, David Cameron. Cameron has, in fact, continued to try to justify the closeness of his contacts with these, and other, media contacts in the face of mounting criticism. Some of this criticism has been justified and some has been simple political cant; the maniacal tirade from Gordon Brown last week was an example of a man trying to regain some credibility while having no idea of how to go about it. At the same time, the appallingly 'holier-than-thou' attitudes of many other leading figures has been nauseating, and I do not confine my remarks to politicians; many journalists are just as culpable.
As Prime Minister, Cameron has been, at best, mediocre. Since the emergence of this media scandal, he has been seriously weakened and his House of Commons performances have been poor; lacklustre though he is, Ed Milliband has had the upper hand in recent exchanges and has taken the lead over the 'phone-hacking issue. Cameron has, at no point, taken control of the storm that surrounds him; he has, in fact, fed it through his continuing and inexplicable support for Andy Coulson. What this has done is to call into question his judgement, something which, for a Prime Minister, is all-important; the grey suits in the Tory party must now be on alert, wondering if they will soon need to be looking for a successor.
Where will all of this end ? It's anyones' guess but there seems sure to be some changes in media ownership, a lot of hand-wringing in the Met, and some serious rethinking amongst the political elite, before we all get tired of the story and 'business as usual' is resumed.
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