howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
the rest of the article now
It was called the Chipping Norton set, an incestuous collection of louche, affluent, power-hungry and amoral Londoners, located in and around the Prime Minister's Oxfordshire constituency. Brooks and her husband, the former racing trainer Charlie Brooks, live in a house scarcely a mile from David and Samantha Cameron's constituency home. The two couples meet frequently, and have continued to do so long after the phone hacking scandal became well known.
PR fixer Matthew Freud, married to Mr Murdoch's daughter Elisabeth, is another member of this Chipping Norton set. When Mr Cameron bumped into Freud at Rebekah Brooks's wedding two years ago, he and Mr Freud greeted each other with exuberant high-fives to signal their exclusive friendship.
The Prime Minister cannot claim in defence that he was naively drawn in to this lethal circle. He was warned - many times. Shortly before the last election he was explicitly told about the company he was keeping. Alan Rusbridger - editor of The Guardian newspaper, which has performed such a wonderful service to public decency by bringing to light the shattering depravity of Mr Murdoch's newspaper empire - went to meet one of Mr Cameron's closest advisers shortly before the last election. He briefed this adviser very carefully about Mr Coulson, telling him many troubling pieces of information that could not then be put into the public domain.
Mr Rusbridger then went to see Nick Clegg, now the deputy prime minister. So Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg - the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister - knew all about Mr Coulson before last May's coalition negotiations. And yet they both paid no attention and went on to make him the Downing Street director of communications, an indiscretion that beggars belief.
So the Prime Minister is in a mess. To put the matter rather more graphically, he is in a sewer. The question is this: how does he crawl out and salvage at least some of his reputation for decency and good judgment? This is a potentially deadly moment. If the Prime Minister plays his cards wrong, his public image will change in a matter of a few days. From a popular and respected national leader, he will come to be defined by his ill-judged friendship with the Chipping Norton set. This kind of personal degradation has happened before. By the end, Harold Wilson was irreparably damaged by his friendship with dodgy businessmen such as the raincoat manufacturer Lord Kagan.
Guest 716- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 4,010
The man in the sreet would not of bought a secondhand car from Mr Coulson.Mr Cameron is very fortunate to have had only new cars in his life!
If this problem of him making errors of judgement on very important issues,combined with surrounding himself with such friends and associates it will damage his career.More important is it is not advisable for a nation to entrust their faith in such a man.
Scumsuckingbottomfeedingbastards, politicians and journalists. They inhabit the sediment at the bottom of the pit and it is about time people dropped the blinkers and took a proper look. There are a few - few - exceptions!!
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
i think the issue here is dave and his judgement, the stuff have i posted on this thread is from a dyed in the wool blue journalist.
Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
I think reg is right on this one, this will have seriously damage cameron,
and boris is waiting to take over
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Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
Peter Oborne is certainly a dyed in the wool BLUE journalist. He wrote for the right wing organ the Daily Mail for many years and has only recently moved to the Telegraph. He has been on the BBC's Question Time often over the years and always an exponent of the blue message.
His article yesterday did cause some considerable consternation in Downing St as the chap is influential and well read...and as we said previously very much a Tory. So when a guy like him delivers phrases like " Cameron is in the Sewer " we know it will certainly have caused a shock in the shires. And you dont want a shock in the shires i can tell you!
I notice too that local publican and former NoW journalist Paul McMullan was all over the airwaves yesterday. Here's a picture...
He was on Sky News, BBC News, and on the BBC Radio Four News. Much in demand now is McMullan as he seems quite willing to spill at least some of the beans. He said last night that Rebekah Brooks should go, as she knew what was going on and has "thrashed a good newspaper". He openly admits to being involved in hacking in the earlier years of all this....when there was no law against it. Thats how he puts it anyway.
This whole thing has developed way out of control but was there a need to shut down the newspaper with the loss of all those jobs? and also take this the biggest selling paper away from up to 4million readers. As is usual sadly...the people responsible at the top escape but the axe falls on the shop floor hacks.
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
paulb;
yep murdock thinks by closing the paper and chucking all those geezers on the dole, he will get his sky deal.
will be interesting to see camerons press conference at 0930
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Guest 683- Registered: 11 Feb 2009
- Posts: 1,052
Nick Robinson (BBC Political editor) summed it up very well for me last night when he said that Cameron is the PM who is in office when the music stopped. There has been a queue of politicians (of all political persuasions and around the world not just at home) who have courted Murdoch and his empire over the past few decades. His power and influence is not to be undervalued and it will be surprising if he quietly goes off and dismantles his media control. I wish he would but doubt there is the political clout to ensure it happens.
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
yes cameron is damaged by all of this, seriously damaged, and he hopes his 0930 press conference will calm the waters, but it looks like this is the start of the end of mr cameron
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howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
interesting to read some of the stuff that mr mcmullan has written in the past.
he equates privacy as secrecy so therefore it must be a bad thing.
Guest 663- Registered: 20 Mar 2008
- Posts: 1,136
If Cameron thought it would be easy he surely has to think again, there is always something that will come back to haunt you that time must be now.
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
Reg is still having a bit of trouble....so am doing the honours again
* *
Following in from Reg Hansell...
Cartoon by Dave Brown Independent.
PM`s Press Call.
Understandably evasive...Naivety, Streetwise in doubt.Treading water waiting for the inevitable? Baggage will be difficult to shake off.Police transparency paramount.Will all the truth come out? Can hear shreading m/c`s in many offices.
Flogging a dead horse with``We are all in this together``Looks like a long drawnout affair.
Not a confident performance.
ends.
Cameron needs to grow a pair, frankly.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
doubt there is much dave can do, politicians have been manipulating the media for too long now.
i think the police will close ranks to keep things under wraps and news international will not argue with that.
these things do get forgotten very quickly despite what we all think at the moment.
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
HOWARD;
I don';t agree, this story as the torygraph says has damaged mr cameron, it will take a lot to recover from, and they don't think he will recover
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Guest 716- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 4,010
The daily drip of information will steadily make the `water`murkier.
Evidence that a senior executive of News International may have deleted millions of emails.
Also disclosed that information had been passed to Camerons senior aide of the NOTW links with detective Jonathan Rees and that prior to the 2010 election the three party leaders were made aware of allegations of Coulsons illegal information gathering.
At about the same time under the Editorship of Coulson NOTW rehired Jonathan Rees after he had served a seven year sentence.
Perhaps Coulson was giving Rees a second chance!
Rees had a track record of obtaining information illegally through corrupt police officers.
We may be in need of a British ``Woodward``and ``Bernstein``.
Politicians the reverse sweep may be sexy but in Public Life ( Life ) the straight bat has longevity.
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
The clock is ticking, so much more to come out
and yesterday cameron made the mistake of saying coulson is still a buddy of his
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howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
doubt if he will be going round for christmas dinner at ms brooks house again this year.
i think dave will survive until the next election, not so sure after that.
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
HOWARD;
Depend how much more of this story damages him
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Guest 716- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 4,010
Sunday broad sheets on News International influence!
No.10 deserts Murdoch Ship............No.10 refuse to deny that Mr Cameron`s name was on `Hacking list`
Many notable people advised/warned Mr.Cameron not to employ Coulson both when in opposition and in Government.
It is reported Murdoch twice gave his personal guarantee to Mr Cameron that it was safe to employ Coulson as his Downing Sreet press chief.
? Why would Murdoch want his man in such an important position?
Beggars belief why Cameron made his decision with all this advice/briefing.
Even more of a concern when a PM has MI 5 and MI 6 on tap.
