You are here: Home » Archives »

The Accused

July 9, 2009 11:03 am

Author:

John Prescott

Share this Article

Murdoch Coulson By John Prescott / @johnprescott

I’m still pretty stunned by the Guardian’s revelations that the News of the World under Andy Coulson hacked into my phone. I’m even more amazed to discover that I was just one of 3,000 targeted by this paper and Murdoch’s News International.

I see Coulson is trying to distance himself from the report by saying he wasn’t at the paper when the payout was made to Gordon Taylor. That’s not the point. You were there when the crime was committed. And as Andrew Neil said tonight of Coulson’s News of the World on Newsnight:

“This was a newsroom out of control. We know from your story, it has become a default position to go to these guys and get information this way.

“Everyone who knows the News of the World, everybody knows this was going on. But it did no good to talk about it. One News of the World journalist said to me tonight, it was dangerous to talk about it.

“If this behaviour was systemic in the newsroom, why would you not know about it, why would you of all people, not know about it. Either you’re incompetent or complicit.”

This really does call Cameron’s judgement into question in hiring Coulson. McBride rightly got the sack after those childish emails. In fact, Cameron claimed the incident showed there needed to be a ‘change of culture’ in Downing Street.

But the systematic illegal hacking of upto 3,000 people is in a different league all together. Allowing the man who allowed that to happen into No10 would be deplorable.

So the question Cameron must answer is ‘do you back him or sack him?’ By the fact his people are briefing that he’s “very relaxed” about the episode, we sadly have our answer.

The Labour Party has been accused of many things in the past – until now being nasty wasn’t one of them

Comments are closed

Latest

Europe Video
Chuka Umunna on what Britain can learn from Germany
Read more →
Comment
In Defence of Social Democracy
Firstly, I would like to thank David Miliband for taking seriously the arguments which were presented in my recent article in The Political Quarterly, ‘In Praise of Social Democracy’ co-authored with Roy Hattersley. Obviously we disagree over the recent past and the future of the Labour Party, but this should be a debate over principles and not personalities. What does David argue? The implication is that we are being intellectually complacent – lazy even – wishing to retreat into some [...]
Read more →
Featured
The tragedy of Chris Huhne
By Mark Ferguson
It was inevitable that he had to go – in fairness, it had been coming for some time. The spectre of the court case hung over him, further tarnishing his credibility. Powerful friends and allies had already exhausted their capacity for patience with him. He surely knew the game was up. Today he was cast adrift. Now the courts must decide whether he is guilty (and therefore banished from public life) or innocent (and perhaps, once again able to return [...]
Read more →
Local Government News
Resignation calls after Tory Councillor’s “pudding bowl attack” on wife
According to local paper the Express and Star, a Dudley councillor is facing calls to resign after admitting assaulting his wife: “A councillor has admitted assault after throwing a pudding bowl at his wife’s head – sparking calls for him to resign. Tory councillor Paul Woodall’s wife Joanne was left with a one-inch cut to her forehead and blood pouring down her face, a court heard. Dudley Magistrates was told Woodall, 45, elected two years ago for Kingswinford North and [...]
Read more →
News
Caroline Flint on Ed Davey’s appointment
After Ed Davey was announced as Chris Huhne’s replacement in the cabinet today, Caroline Flint called on him to “stand up to vested interests in the energy industry”: “David Cameron promised this would be the “greenest Government ever”. But on his watch the Green Investment Bank has been delayed, thousands of jobs and businesses in the solar industry have been put at risk and the UK has fallen from third in the world for investment in green growth to thirteenth. [...]
Read more →