Tag: “Rupert murdoch”

You did not have to be a genius to imagine there might have been a statutory element to the proposals brought forward by Lord Justice Leveson. Indeed, the longer the inquiry went on, the more his tone of questioning suggested such a move might happen. Certainly, by the time David Cameron gave evidence, it was [...]

I would not normally concern myself too much with the sleeping patterns of the editor of The Guardian, but judging by his editorial on the upcoming Leveson Report, I sense a lot of tossing and turning has been going on. Apologies for not providing a link, but I am having a technologically challenged morning, so [...]

I am biased. What I say on here, or when speaking in public, reflects a view that is biased towards the left, towards progressive causes, towards causes I believe in and values I hold. Even when I was a journalist, though I strove to get my facts right, I always admitted that my journalism was [...]

One of the more repellent aspects of the play POSH that I keep going on about is, as I said in this review in The Independent, the sexism of the young aristo Oxford Tory members of the Riot aka Bullingdon Club. I wonder if it was sexism, cowardice or sheer incompetence that persuaded George ‘I [...]

As Michael Gove reflects on his latest intervention, what will have the greater impact on him as he surveys the weekend papers with his usual careful reading? … the fact that he has annoyed huge numbers of heads, teachers, parents and children with his ill-timed (in the middle of exams for heaven’s sake), regressive (he [...]

To be fair to Rupert Murdoch – you don’t hear that too often these days – News International were right to say last night that ‘there isn’t any evidence in Alastair Campbell’s diaries’ that ‘ he was pressing Tony Blair on Iraq on behalf of the Republicans. Nor, to be fair to me, have I [...]

I spoke at two very different events yesterday, and got some interesting insights into two subjects I think about a fair bit, Rupert Murdoch’s influence, and (unrelated), mental health. The first event was a conference in London of the Australian pension funds industry, and the reason I was there was to take part in a [...]

A Tory strategist (now there’s a rare bird) is quoted in the FT today as saying ‘I don’t think there will be a permanent impact [from recent troubles] if we can show we are a competent government.’ That may be true, though I doubt it; may be wishful thinking, indeed clearly it is; but the [...]

I resisted the many requests from Sunday newspapers to offer crisis comms advice to Number 10 as a combination of granny tax, tax cuts for the rich, pasties, petrol panic and a Tory funding scandal combine to give the government a fairly choppy period. Partly this was because I remember once spotting Bernard Ingham, Maggie’s [...]

The last time David Cameron flew in mid-frenzy from an overseas visit, he did the right thing on arrival home in announcing a judicial inquiry into phonehacking and the broader practices of the press. He should do the right thing today – and finally admit his judgement let him down in hiring Andy Coulson as [...]