News of the World

[Gemmill 44272]

Has there ever been a scandal this big in the UK.

 

 

 

Rebecca Brookes really doesn't need to go down that route.

 

They wouldn't need that seat in the way. If her hair is anything to go by, her minge'll be a great big ginger bellywarmer.

[Happy Face 29]

Has there ever been a scandal this big in the UK.

 

 

 

 

Really would you say as big?

 

Seen off Britains biggest Sunday paper

Seen off the biggest media deal

Hundreds on the dole

Top two officers at the met gone

 

More to follow, perhaps the PM

 

The PM then barely survived a house vote and resigned a couple of months later...but it was just an excuse for the pic really.

[Christmas Tree 4679]

Even Boris isnt defending Dave

[Happy Face 29]

What about the Exclusion Crisis CT, those blasted Whigs.

 

Either way, it's always the Tories or their forebears that take the art of scandal to a whole other level.

[Guest alex]

Not the biggest political scandal. Would love that to change though.

[PaddockLad 17069]

I think Brooks will,in her own way, 'plead the fifth' as the yanks call it. She has to appear as shes a uk citizen, but can't be forced to answer as shes under police investigation. In the states if you appear before a senate comittee you have to swear on oath,like a witness in a jury trial. But they have the get out of the 5th amendment (see Oliver North, arms for hostages.) Brooks is probably thinking.

'every cloud etc...' at the moment. James Murdoch paid off celebs to keep quiet yet denies knowing the full extent of the hacking going on. They may be able to land some punches on him. I think the old man will know too much for an the likes of Keith Vaz though.

[Christmas Tree 4679]

What about the Exclusion Crisis CT, those blasted Whigs.

 

Either way, it's always the Tories or their forebears that take the art of scandal to a whole other level.

 

 

I think the juick mains in this little affair will be when we get to the joys of the cover up under labour.

 

Now if we could just delay the findings until say......just before the next election.

[Happy Face 29]

What about the Exclusion Crisis CT, those blasted Whigs.

 

Either way, it's always the Tories or their forebears that take the art of scandal to a whole other level.

 

 

I think the juick mains in this little affair will be when we get to the joys of the cover up under labour.

 

Now if we could just delay the findings until say......just before the next election.

 

The fact that Brown was the victim of the hacking and Cameron employed the bloke that ran the hacking company, suggests to me Labour would have to be indescribably stupid to come out of this half as badly as the Tories.

[Christmas Tree 4679]

What about the Exclusion Crisis CT, those blasted Whigs.

 

Either way, it's always the Tories or their forebears that take the art of scandal to a whole other level.

 

 

I think the juick mains in this little affair will be when we get to the joys of the cover up under labour.

 

Now if we could just delay the findings until say......just before the next election.

 

The fact that Brown was the victim of the hacking and Cameron employed the bloke that ran the hacking company, suggests to me Labour would have to be indescribably stupid to come out of this half as badly as the Tories.

 

Every ones a hacking victim these days! It's the latest must have. Even Boris was playing the "I've been hacked" sympathy card.

 

Mark my words, if Cameron survives this week, he will re-group and it will all be about who knew what when the first investigation was hushed up under Labour.

Not particularly playing a blame game, just saying the way I think this will unfold.

[The Fish 10686]

What about the Exclusion Crisis CT, those blasted Whigs.

 

Either way, it's always the Tories or their forebears that take the art of scandal to a whole other level.

 

 

I think the juick mains in this little affair will be when we get to the joys of the cover up under labour.

 

Now if we could just delay the findings until say......just before the next election.

 

The fact that Brown was the victim of the hacking and Cameron employed the bloke that ran the hacking company, suggests to me Labour would have to be indescribably stupid to come out of this half as badly as the Tories.

 

Every ones a hacking victim these days! It's the latest must have. Even Boris was playing the "I've been hacked" sympathy card.

 

Mark my words, if Cameron survives this week, he will re-group and it will all be about who knew what when the first investigation was hushed up under Labour.

Not particularly playing a blame game, just saying the way I think this will unfold.

[Sonatine 11306]

News of the World phone-hacking whistleblower found dead

 

Death of Sean Hoare – who was first named journalist to allege Andy Coulson knew of hacking – not being treated as suspicious

 

Sean Hoare, the former News of the World showbiz reporter who was the first named journalist to allege Andy Coulson was aware of phone hacking by his staff, has been found dead, the Guardian has learned.

 

Hoare, who worked on the Sun and the News of the World with Coulson before being dismissed for drink and drugs problems, is said to have been found dead at his Watford home.

 

Hertfordshire police would not confirm his identity, but the force said in a statement: "At 10.40am today [Monday 18 July] police were called to Langley Road, Watford, following the concerns for the welfare of a man who lives at an address on the street. Upon police and ambulance arrival at a property, the body of a man was found. The man was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after.

 

"The death is currently being treated as unexplained, but not thought to be suspicious. Police investigations into this incident are ongoing."

 

Hoare first made his claims in a New York Times investigation into the phone-hacking allegations at the News of the World.

 

He told the newspaper that not only did Coulson know of the phone hacking, but that he actively encouraged his staff to intercept the phone calls of celebrities in the pursuit of exclusives.

 

In a subsequent interview with the BBC he alleged that he was personally asked by his then-editor, Coulson, to tap into phones. In an interview with the PM programme he said Coulson's insistence that he didn't know about the practice was "a lie, it is simply a lie".

 

At the time a Downing Street spokeswoman said Coulson totally and utterly denied the allegations and said he had "never condoned the use of phone hacking and nor do I have any recollection of incidences where phone hacking took place".

 

Sean Hoare, a one-time close friend of Coulson's, told the New York Times the two men first worked together at the Sun, where, Hoare said, he played tape recordings of hacked messages for Coulson. At the News of the World, Hoare said he continued to inform Coulson of his activities. Coulson "actively encouraged me to do it", Hoare said.

 

In September last year, he was interviewed under caution by police over his claims that the former Tory communications chief asked him to hack into phones when he was editor of the paper, but declined to make any comment.

 

Hoare returned to the spotlight last week, after he told the New York Times that reporters at the News of the World were able to use police technology to locate people using their mobile phone signals in exchange for payments to police officers.

 

He said journalists were able to use a technique called "pinging" which measured the distance between mobile handsets and a number of phone masts to pinpoint its location.

 

Hoare gave further details about the use of "pinging" to the Guardian last week. He described how reporters would ask a news desk executive to obtain the location of a target: "Within 15 to 30 minutes someone on the news desk would come back and say 'right that's where they are.'"

 

He said: "You'd just go to the news desk and they'd just come back to you. You don't ask any questions. You'd consider it a job done. The chain of command is one of absolute discipline and that's why I never bought into it, like with Andy saying he wasn't aware of it and all that. That's bollocks."

 

He said he would stand by everything he had told the New York Times about "pinging". "I don't know how often it happened. That would be wrong of me. But if I had access as a humble reporter … "

 

He admitted he had had problems with drink and drugs and had been in rehab. "But that's irrelevant," he said. "There's more to come. This is not going to go away."

 

Hoare named a private investigator who he said had links with the News of the World, adding: "He may want to talk now because I think what you'll find now is a lot of people are going to want to cover their arse."

 

Speaking to another Guardian journalist last week, Hoare repeatedly expressed the hope that the hacking scandal would lead to journalism in general being cleaned up and said he had decided to blow the whistle on the activities of some of his former News of the World colleagues with that aim in mind.

 

He also said he had been injured the previous weekend while taking down a marquee erected for a children's party. He said he had broken his nose and badly injured his foot when a relative accidentally struck him with a heavy pole from the marquee.

 

Hoare also emphasised that he was not making any money from telling his story. Hoare, who has been treated for drug and alcohol problems, reminisced about partying with former pop stars and said he missed the days when he was able to go out on the town.

 

 

Conspiracytheorytastic

[Tom 14011]

David Kelly MKII

[Happy Face 29]

"The death is not thought to be suspicious. Police investigations into this incident are ongoing."

 

Can't see any reason to doubt the police at this time.

[trophyshy 7069]

"The death is not thought to be suspicious. Police investigations into this incident are ongoing."

 

Can't see any reason to doubt the police at this time.

 

It's not suspicious if you know exactly what happened, is it?

[TheMoog 0]

I'm not accepting anything until Parky reports on it

[Christmas Tree 4679]

Good old Nick Robinson from the Beeb reporting that Tory MP's are getting extremely twitchy tonight in the house of commons.......

 

The men in grey could be coming for a chat Davey.

[snakehips 0]

Milliband and his chums are hell bent on 'getting' Cameron, but are failing miserably.

 

What I would love to know, is whether 'Dave' hired Coulson as a favour to Murdoch(s)/Wade. Coulson fell on his sword from News International, which calmed the waters for Murdoch. I just wonder if Cameron was then asked to hire Coulson in return for favourable press by N.Int. After all, all the advice Cameron received, both in public and in private, was one of keep well clear.

[Craig 6672]

Isn't Deputy PM just a made up title anyway?

 

I understood that it was invented just to give an extra seat in the cabinet - I think Whitelaw was the first under Thatcher though they do big-up the ceremonial stand-in aspects nowadays.

 

I suppose you could argue it has a higher profile when a coalition is in force.

Was first used during the coalition in WWII. If my memory of GCSE History serves me right.

 

Right you are Alex. Atlee was the first.

 

Actually Harriet Harman was never Deputy Prime Minister, only Deputy Labour Leader. Nearest thing Gordon Brown had to a deputy PM was actually Mandelson on account of being appointed First Secretary of State.

 

Last Deputy PM before Clegg was Prescott. Then Tarzan before him.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deputy_Prime_..._United_Kingdom

[Tom 14011]

The Sun Website :D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hacked btw

[Ayatollah Hermione 13769]

What am I looking at?

[Tom 14011]

It should have linked you to an article about Rupert Murdoch's ''death'' but it go too many hits and went down!

[Phil 6]

There's a few site rerunning it;

 

http://www.security-faqs.com/lulzsec-hacks...rdoch-dead.html

[LoveTheBobby 1]

What became of the Glastonbury 'body on the bog' ?

[ChezGiven 0]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/1...ish-power-elite

 

Worth a read. Some snippets.

 

How the phone-hacking scandal unmasked the British power elite.

 

At 2.30 on Tuesday 19 July, the story that has spread itself over the news for weeks will reach one of its most spectacular moments. An elderly American–Australian billionaire and his 38-year-old son will be transported to the Houses of Parliament, along with a 43-year-old woman from Warrington, long used to the company of the rich and powerful, but freshly departed from her high-powered job and just released from a central-London police station. There, they will face a committee of MPs, from a wide array of backgrounds – among them, a trade unionist's son from Kidderminster; a privately educated chick-lit novelist who has recently married the manager of Metallica and the Red Hot Chili Peppers; and a woman who was once the finance director for the company that makes Mars bars.

 

....A long love affair

 

By then, the spell cast by the Murdoch empire on politicians of all parties was endlessly reported as if it was the natural order of things. The next year, when the Sun announced its support for the Tories with the headline "Labour's lost it", even the BBC reported the switch as if it were an enshrined part of the British political process, rarely questioning why its reporters were paying so much attention to the whims of one man, or what it said about the fall of our politics that his manoeuvrings were considered so important.

 

Meanwhile, the so-called Chipping Norton set – the Camerons, Elisabeth Murdoch and Matthew Freud, Brooks and her husband Charlie, Steve Hilton and his wife Rachel Whetstone, Google's head of communications and public policy – was developing into a hardened clique. News International had long since seduced not just politicians, but police officers. In Sunday's deluge of news about Met commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson, one story was strangely overlooked: that according to the New York Times, his links with News International were sufficiently close for him to have "met for meals 18 times with company executives and editors". All told, British politics was blurring into a mulch largely built around policies the Murdochs could endorse, and their company was apparently so gone on its own power that some of its staff obviously thought they were way beyond the law.

 

The unpopular press

 

Which brings us to some of the most important questions of all. Even before the hacking scandal decisively broke, how does anyone suppose all of this was this playing with the public? How did ordinary voters feel, watching every broadcast outlet telling them that Murdoch had swapped from Labour to Tory, and implying that the next election was thereby all but decided, as if their own votes counted for precious little? As they heard about Blair's trip to Australia, or Murdoch and Cameron's tete-a-tete in Greece, what did they think? This is not to suggest that millions of people were anywhere near as hostile to the Murdoch empire as hard-bitten lefties, nor that the politics of his newspapers did not chime with those of millions and millions of people: but rather to point out that if politicians have long gnashed their teeth about "disconnection" and the decline of public trust, the fact that they have increasingly formed a distant, pampered elite – with the Murdochs at its centre – must surely provide some of the explanation

[trophyshy 7069]

All this far reaching drama and the most read story on the beeb is "Justin Bieber gatecrashes wedding'