Watergate?

[David Johnson]

I remember reading something a couple of weeks ago suggesting that the phone hacking scandal was the UK's Watergate. My initial reaction was that this was bollocks.

Now I am not too sure.

In 2003, Rebekah Brooks admitted in front of a Parliamentary Committee that the NOTW had paid policemen. It has emerged recently that there a number of emails out there in which Coulson authorised payments to police.

First we have Andy Hayman who was in charge of the original phone hacking investigation back in 2006/2007. The only outcome was a "rogue reporter" and a private investigator working for the NOTW were sent down.
Hayman resigned from the Service on 4 December 2007, following allegations about expense claims and alleged improper conduct with a female member of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) and a female Sergeant.

Two months later, he started working for the Murdoch empire and has contributed to The Times, owned by NI, and there has "written in defence of the police investigation and maintained there were 'perhaps a handful' of hacking victims." Hayman appeared before the Home Affairs Select Committee on 12 July 2011 when he confirmed that he had received hospitality from people he was investigating in relation to a criminal offence, although he regarded this as normal and operational matters were not discussed!!!

Former Met Commissioner John Stevens became a NOW columnist when he retired, getting a huge salary for the role.

John Yates who was ferociously persistent in his work on the cash for peerage investigation under the Labour government, refused to reopen the hacking enquiry even though the Guardian indicated that at least 3000 people had been hacked by Glenn Mulcaire and it has subsequently transpired that Yates team was sitting on 11,000 pages of Glenn Mulcaire's notes including 4,000 people's personal details.

Sir Paul Stevenson, the Metropolitan Commission had a meeting with the Guardian editor in 2009 to tell him that the phone hacking coverage was incorrect and exaggerated. What Stevenson didnt mention was that two months previously he had appointed Neil Wallis, the ex deputy editor of NOTW while Coulson was editor, on a ?1,000 per day as a strategic communications advisor. Wallis was also working for Yates at the time Yates decided not to reopen the investigation.

Cameron published details yesterday of meetings he had had with senior newspaper executives and editors since becoming prime minister. He had met senior executives of the Murdoch empire about 20 times. This compares with the Daily Mail, 3 times and the Guardian, once.

It's going to get a bit uncomfortable, I think when politicians and police start getting called and interviewed under oath as part of the judicial inquiry.

Cheers
D

[tuf766]

Every man and his dog (apart from me) is on the payroll, police, politicians, judges, doctors, dentists, teachers, lawyers, criminals...you name it.

more secret handshakes and backhanders it is then.

[David Johnson]

Bloody hell, if you wrote this as a script people would tell you that it's totally over the top.

Now we have had Sir Paul Stevenson, the Met Commissioner resigning. Public life in the UK seems to have changed completely. At one time you had to drag people kicking and screaming to resign.

Now we have had the following resignations:

Coulson, twice. Of course he knew nothing about phone hacking.

Rebekah Brooks. Of course she knew nothing about phone hacking.

Les Hinton. Had worked with Rupert Murdoch for 52 years. Of course he knew nothing about phone hacking and he had been deceived.

Paul Stevenson. Of course he knew nothing about anything which I guess was part of the problem.

Other people who were deceived and have not yet resigned (watch this space, this could be out of date as I write it) are:

James Murdoch who signed cheques for over a million to hush up people bringing cases about phone hacking, like Max Clifford and the football guy, Taylor. Of course he didnt really understand what he was signing because he had been misinformed.

John Yates who carried out an 8 hour review of 11,000 pages of Mulcaire's notes which despite them containing the personal phone details of over 4,000 people, led to a decision not to reopen the case. Of course he didnt really understand what he was doing because his subordinated misled him.

Jeez!

D

[max_tranmere]

Hi David,

I personally don't think the recent phone hacking scandal is Britain's Watergate. There have been two 'Watergates' in Britain as far as I can see: one was the John Profumo scandal in the early-1960s, the second was the culture of sleaze and corruption during the final years of John Major's Government in the 1990's. I call these 'Watergate' type things because they both left a long ugly shadow over politics and made the public in general trust politicans a lot less for many years subsequently - possibly forever.

This is apparently a very interesting book, I've not read it but I've heard it's very good:



Things like that profoundly change the relationship between politics and Joe Public, and I think Profumo and the 1990's Tory sleaze has done the same.

[Robches]

I wouldn't trust Andy Hayman as far as I could throw him, a right shifty bastard in my opinion. I can see the possibility that Cameron could go over this, though the odds are against at the moment. I wouldn't miss him. I read plenty of stuff at the time he appointed Coulson saying it would blow up in his face. Well, bad luck Flashman, it just did.

[David Johnson]

I agree.

Apparently Hayman gave evidence last week to the parliamentary committee to the effect that the Director of Public Affairs at the Met okayed Hayman to socialise with NOTW executives, the very people Hayman was supposed to be investigating as part of the phone hacking scandal. The Director of Public Affairs has subsequently denied this.

Looks like Hayman could be making further appearances!

As for Cameron, the Daily Mail ran with this story

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ulson.html

Now if the Mail is able to substantiate this story or anything of similar seriousness, then I would have thought that the Tories would have to be looking for a new leader soon after

Cheers
D

[David Johnson]

Hi
I think this goes beyond the Profumo scandal and Major's time. In just two weeks since the Millie Dowler phone hacking scandal came out, we have seen the biggest selling paper in the UK closed down, Andy Coulson the ex Comms Director for the Prime Minister, arrested, the CHief Executive of News International arrested, the Met Commissioner and the Assistant Met Commissioner resigning, Rupert and James Murdoch to appear before a parliamentary commitee tomorrow.

And that is just in a fortnight. Christ knows what more is going to come out in the next few months/years. Remember Rebekah Brooks told the NOTW staff that they would realise why the NOTW had to be closed down within the year.

Cheers
D

[David Johnson]

A day is a long time in this story.

John Yates has resigned. Of course he knew nothing about phone hacking.

Cheers
D

[David Johnson]

The Independent Police Complaints Committee have had referrals from the Met re. the handling of the phone hacking case by two current and two former senior police officers.

The two named are Paul Stephenson and John Yates. I would guess that Andy Hayman has to be in the frame for one of the two former senior officers not referenced in the IPCC statement.

Cheers
D

[max_tranmere]

That all concerns media barons and two top cops. Watergate, Profumo, and Tory sleaze in the 1990's, involved senior politicians. I would say the recent MP's expenses scandal, which resulted in a couple of them being jailed, is nearer to 'a Watergate' than any of this recent carry-on with two top Police officers and a handful of media people quitting their jobs.