Desperate Dan
Senior Jockey
What price Cameron`s mate carrying the can for the, err, indiscretions at Rupert and Rebekah`s Rag? And free Tommy Sheridan while there at it!!
What price Cameron`s mate carrying the can for the, err, indiscretions at Rupert and Rebekah`s Rag? And free Tommy Sheridan while there at it!!
What's the usual sentence for perjury? 2, 3 years?
Did he appear for the defence, or was he called by the defence?
Sheridan called Coulson as a witness, and his (Coulson's) statements under oath appear to contradict evidence now coming to light as part of the Guardian investigation.
Coulson will get a stretch, I reckon.
It was George Osbourne I think who got Coulson the No 10 job wasn't it?
Yaughtgate & illegal donations and now this, well he isn't showing himself to be the wisest chancellor ever, or most apt political confidant to Cameron. Thank god Clegg is in there to yield a bit of common sense.
At a minimum Coulsons days have got to be numbered at number 10, regardless of what Cameron thinks he did or didn't do. Even 'second chances' as he once said Coulson deserved have a price when the stakes are this high.
"Villains, paedophiles and corrupt politicans will be able to sleep more soundly now that the great investigative paper has gone"
"Britain's crooks, thieves, conmen and fakers won't miss the News of the World. But everyone who loved a great story, well told, will."
Two of the thoughts of David Wooding, former political editor of the now defunct News Of The World.
Agree with the above statement.
This David Abramovich or whatever he's called (writer and broadcaster) is a bit strange isn't he?
In the midst of all this, where the spin doctors of Downing street and general culture of the political/media relationship are seriously up for debate, he argues on Sky News this morning that politicians need journalists to put out their messages and that the relationship is a necessity???
If we needed a state press where messages from our leaders were dumbed down for a general mass interpretation and/or consumption to the public we could all have Al Jazeera or some other far left/right owned goverment channel or news organisation. The whole point of having democratic politics is it's for our leaders to get the opinions and messages out, and for the public to be the judge of the merit of those arguments.
Yes the press will always write about what politicans say, but as for 'helping put their message across' with a nod and a wink, this is New Labour thinking doctrine of 13 years ago and he's been prepared to advocate it on a day like today. Absolute joke.
From Guardian site:
Rebekah Brooks, the former News of the World editor who resigned as chief executive of News International at the height of the phone-hacking scandal, received £1.7m in cash, the use of a London office and a chauffeur-driven limousine as part of her severance package from the newspaper group.
Brooks, a favourite of Rupert Murdoch who rose from being a secretary on the features desk of the Sunday newspaper to the very top of the mogul's UK operation, quit in July amid claims over the alleged illegal activities carried out by her executives and reporters. Days after she resigned, she was arrested and bailed in connection with allegations of phone hacking and corruption.
Records at Companies House show that she has resigned from 23 directorships related to the firm. However, the Observer has learned that, along with a generous payoff and continued use of her company limousine and driver for two years, Brooks, 43, has been given an office for the same period of time in an affluent central London area which her spokesman asked the Observer not to reveal for security reasons.
The decision to give Brooks an office will inevitably be raised on Thursday when James Murdoch, the 38-year-old son of Rupert and chairman of News International, returns to Westminster to answer questions from the Commons culture, media and sport select committee about his knowledge of illegal activities by his employees.
Tom Watson, the Labour MP who helped lead the fight to expose the phone-hacking practices carried out by News of the World journalists, queried the company's decision. He said: "It is remarkably curious that such an generous package is given to Ms Brooks when others have been cut loose. It is almost as if she hasn't really left the company. I am sure Mr Murdoch will want to explain the decision to his shareholders."
James Murdoch is set to make his second appearance before the Commons committee this week after discrepancies arose between his previous testimony and that of his key lieutenants.
During the session he is also likely to be questioned about previous claims that illegal practices did not take place at the Sun newspaper, where Brooks was editor between 2003 and 2009 before being elevated to the role of chief executive of News International.
The investigation into police corruption and newspapers' illegal payments to officers was extended to the Sun last week, as detectives arrested one of its reporters at his home near Windsor.
Jamie Pyatt, 49, the first journalist from the title to be arrested by Scotland Yard's Operation Elveden into payments to police officers, has been at the Sun since 1987 and worked under Brooks when she was editor there.
Dave Wilson, the chairman of Bell Pottinger, the public relations group hired by Brooks to deal with the fallout from her resignation, declined to comment on the "confidential" details of her severance package.
News International also declined to comment.