Cicero's Songs

In a way the bombshell that has hit the BBC in the past 24 hours over the raft of allegations about the sexual conduct of Jimmy Savile- and the apparent long-term cover-up- is entirely appropriate. Yet to my mind the storm that has broken is also slightly mis-aimed. It is rather like Al Capone being convicted of tax evasion, rather than the much grosser crimes that he undoubtedly also committed. The fact is that the BBC has an ever longer charge sheet of misconduct, and the cover up of what seems, to say the least, the creepy, probably criminal, antics of one of its stars is actually a bit beside the point. Although I believe Rupert Murdoch to be a criminal who should himself now be in gaol, his constant criticism of the Corporation was not entirely self-serving. The fact is that from the gold plated hypocrisy of its expense accounts culture to the naked bias of its news programmes, the BBC has moved a long way from the trusted, Reithian ethos that prevailed even up to a couple of de...

The direct, personal decision by Rupert Murdoch to fly in the face of the rules that are supposed to circumscribe newspaper editors and publish the unfortunate pictures of Price Harry in flagrante is an act of both political calculation and of defiance. The Murdoch Empire is not merely on the back foot, it is in the dock, both of law and of public opinion. Murdoch now resorts to twitter to apply the whip to the nag of the British body politic, but his newspapers retain the power that they had before the hacking scandal virtually intact. Indeed, the arrogant and high handed culture that led to the wreck of the News of the World remains untouched- as this latest 10 day wonder shows. Murdoch knows that the publication is a clear breach of the PCC editors code, but he has decided to run the story to remind the politicians of the power that he has. It is not just Prince Harry who has unfortunate or compromising stories in the Sun Editor's desk. However, I think that the Dirty Dig...

I suppose it was inevitable that the opportunity to give the Liberal Democrats a good kicking was just too good to miss. never mind that the UK still has an upper house of Parliament that is partly hereditary and partly a mass of political cronies. Never mind that all parties are committed in theory to at least a partially elected upper house. In the end it was dirty politics and not high principle that won the day. As in so many decades past, the entrenched interests of political expediency stopped any real change. Yet it is yet another example of why the UK is in such a deep mess. Every political party publicly accepts the need to reform our constitution, whether that is for an English Parliament or for English regional/county government reform, or whether to turn the House of Lords into the national chamber, with the House of Commons being the English chamber- there are plenty of ideas of greater or lesser radicalism. In each case, the proposals insist on an elected House of Lor...

OK, so the Barclay's scandal is just one amongst many. However, the reaction to the forced exit of the unlovely Bob Diamond from the Barclay's PR guys: basically "spread the shit as widely as possible on the government agencies" is so blatant, that to be honest, the government should have a very simple response. Arrest and charge the lot of them. Any Barclay's employee or agent that has been involved in the "take as many of the bastards as I can" project of the unlamented Mr. Diamond should be charged with an attempt to pervert the course of justice. Diamond himself should also be charged.  Trying to blacken the name of HM Government in this puerile way is pretty pathetic, and it does seem to me that legal moves "pour encourager les autres" are rather overdue. Does rather underline why Diamond was a shit though. PS: still think Murdoch should go to gaol first.

The rumbles about the BBC coverage of the Diamond Jubilee have continued, with the latest rumours suggesting that the poor coverage may even have a serious impact on who will be appointed as the next Director General of the BBC when Mark Thompson steps down shortly.  The essence of the complaints has been that the coverage was neither informative nor entertaining- which from the little I saw, seems justified. The "send for a Dimbleby " message that has summed up the complaints seems to me just to underline the scale of the problems, not just of the BBC but of the wider media. In the BBC, it could have been "send for a Snow " or send for a Beurk ", or indeed send for any one of half a dozen other families that have at least two members working for the Beeb.  The BBC, like virtually all the media, is a nest of nepotism. Indeed, without a public school education and family connections, it is exceptionally difficult to break into journalism of any kind. T...

I believe Rebekah Brooks presided over a conspiracy to corrupt British politicians and undermine our democracy. That is not what she is being charged with. She has been charged simply with attempting to pervert the course of justice. She has only been charged essentially with the destruction of evidence. In my view she is probably guilty, but these are the lesser charges in any event. It seems to me that Brooks was a primary figure in Rupert Murdoch's blackmail and bribery of the British political class. She also, I believe, orchestrated the bribery and corruption of the Police and various other significant parts of the British establishment. She represented an organisation that is a malign and criminal influence. The Tories - as the party in government- are getting more abuse than Labour. Yet it was- in my view- Labour that was even more corrupted by the Murdoch money and the Murdoch blackmail. The testimony of James Murdoch- attempting to destroy as many current ministers as ...

The tone of political debate in the UK over the past twenty years or so has grown ever more shrill and rancorous. This bitterness is partly, I believe, the result of the growing recognition that far from being all powerful, our political leaders have in fact ever less control over "events". Political leaders, especially on the left, still put forward the view that they alone can provide detailed policy solutions to the economic and social problems of the day. The Liberal Democrats have been no less guilty of this hubris than any other party. However, there are two critical differences between the Liberal Democrats and the other political parties. The first is that the Liberal Democrats recognized a long time ago that the problem of British politics is not in the party- or parties- of government, but in the system of government. We argue for major reforms of the constitution in order to create a political system that is more accountable to the voters and more ...

James Murdoch is already under criminal investigation in the United States. His testimony to the Leveson enquiry yesterday suggests that he should face a series of trails in the UK too. That is not particularly surprising. What is surprising is the manner in which he has decided to face his fate. Essentially he has clearly decided to "take as many of the bastards with him" as he can, starting with Jeremy Hunt- who, Murdoch suggested, had stepped well outside the line of good standards and even the law in his relationship with News International. Perhaps Mr. Murdoch thinks that his display of revenge will cow others, probably equally implicated in the growing outrage against the Murdoch empire. Personally, I think Murdoch fils  should now be prosecuted to the full limits of the law, and if the evidence supports it, so should everyone else in the Murdoch organisations. Murdoch may be trying for some kind of mutual assured destruction: but our Parliament and our laws mu...

As Vladimir Putin embarks on a further term of office, he can at least point to the fact that even despite the vote rigging and stuffed ballot boxes, he can claim a mandate- even his opponents admit that he has won the election. As I watched the line of Russians outside the embassy in Tallinn I had mixed feelings: on the one hand a hope that Russia can become a genuinely democratic state one day and a fear that the brutal language that Putin uses against the Baltic might one day lead to brutal actions. Yet as the Murdoch scandal cuts a further swathe through British democracy, I am beginning to think that about British democracy rather like Mahatma Gandhi, when asked what he thought about Western Civilisation:  "I think it would be a good idea" For the fact is that what appear to be criminal links between the Murdoch organisation and the Police and other government bodies undermines the fundamental basis of the British democratic system and places it on a similar level ...

The fall of the News of the World was a curious affair. It seemed to me at the time to be something of an over reaction to close the newspaper, even in the face of public outcry over the phone hacking scandal. It only made sense in the context of launching a seven-day version of The Sun, the NoTW's daily stable-mate. Of course that is now what has happened. However the "sacrifice" of the NoTW begins to make far greater sense now that we understand the seemingly far greater level of corruption that was going on at The Sun itself . In now seems quite clear that the closure of the NoTW was a diversionary tactic by Rupert  Murdoch in order to protect his most popular title and even extend its franchise to seven day publishing. However it is now not just Vince Cable who is on the warpath against Murdoch. Every new revelation makes it quite clear that Murdoch has presided over a totally corrupt system. He has relied on corrupt payments to public officials and covert pres...

As a relatively small hurricane moves the east coast of the United States in a relatively rare direct hit, can really be the only one to regard the media coverage as ludicrous? Every trite cliche, every slick and empty phrase has been trotted out in support of the IMPORTANCE OF THE STORY, and for a day or two it will doubtless be a nuisance to my friends on the East Coast. It is not, however, the end of the world if New York experiences a bit of sea flooding- and the City and indeed the country are well prepared: Hurricane Katrina, this ain't. So why treat it as though it is? This is news as a horror show. This is news as "entertainment". It shows the media at its most base, most trivial, and most dangerous. The great pictures and the potential for nasties justifies the massive editorial commitment to the story, even if -as we hope, and as seems likely- it turns into a pretty minor event. Such editorializing should remind us of the essentially tabloid natur...

In the face of the repeated shattering blows to the old order: the Royal divorces, the Parliamentary expenses scandal, the Police failures in the NoTW scandal, and indeed the Murdoch scandal itself, it is easy to pronounce that Britain is a country in an inevitable decline. There is even the prospect of the dissolution of the UK in the near future, if the separatist agenda of the SNP gets its way in Scotland. The national debate is incoherent, with much evidence of retrenchment in hard power: our armed forces; soft power: our foreign ministry and overseas broadcasting; and financial power: the decline in the power and role of global finance, where London remains a global centre. Yet Britain remains a highly significant power, albeit that we only acknowledge our strengths in a rather sideways kind of way: "Britain can still ...". This, of course, still suggests decline, because the implication is that once upon a time, Britain could do so much more. Yet fifty years after the r...

The Murdoch scandal. The sky is dark with chickens coming home to roost. Rebekah Brooks resigns and a day later is arrested. Les Hinton resigns. Further arrests are on the way. The noose grows tighter ever tighter around James Murdoch. Meanwhile Sir Paul Stephens resigns as the Met Police commissioner- inevitable sooner or later, but interesting that it was sooner. Some of the more excitable may say that Cameron himself is under threat, but in the political game of mutual assured destruction, he is no more guilty than most, and a lot less guilty than many. Tony Blair has probably not been sleeping too well recently either. In fact, although not good for the PM, it would take a far more dramatic escalation for his position to be under real pressure. Cameron may have made some new enemies, not least Sir Paul Stephens, apparently, but that is the swings and roundabouts of politics. Meanwhile the Liberal, Democrats came under attack for being the only party with completely clean hands -no...

Two weeks ago Rupert Murdoch-controlled News International has a minority holding in BSkyB and full ownership of four national Daily and Sunday newspapers. True, He had explored turning his Dailies into seven day operations, but that looked to be a little while away. Also true, he was bidding for 100% control of BSkyB. Now he has a minority holding in BSkyB and full ownership of three Daily and Sunday newspapers. A seven day Sun looks to be only a few weeks away and although the current bid for BSkyB has been shelved, another bid could be tabled within a few months, if need be. It rather looks as though Murdoch has lost a battle, but not yet lost the war. Yet there is still the ongoing political shitstorm to get through. Though the pressure from the BSkyB bid may take some of the heat away, there is still the ongoing police investigation and the political and judicial inquiry and the real possibility of a backlash in the US. From the point of view of the UK, Murdoch has had a small de...

The revelations for the beleaguered Murdoch Empire just keep coming. The exquisitely timed released of information that the medical records of Gordon Brown's children had been stolen by NI hacks. The growing realization that the Sunday Times , The Times and the Sun are also to a greater or lesser degree involved not only in phone hacking, but also in computer hacking and the theft of personal information on an industrial scale. That payments to the Police were routine. What does Murdoch do next? Despite the referral to the Competition Commission, the bid for BSkyB remains on the table, but short of actually closing his whole newspaper business in the UK, with a loss of jobs that would itself be highly unpopular (not least in the wider media), it is hard to see how the bid could now be allowed in the teeth of overwhelming public opposition. The point is that even if Murdoch did sell or even close News International in its entirety- as some are suggesting that he might- the legal ...

Rupert Murdoch is not a figure who inspires affection. He is now, as he has always been, a ruthlessly efficient businessman. He promotes the interests of himself and his family above all else, and when those interests are threatened, he acts without compunction. However he is now 80. The fact is that, no matter what, his day is passing. For those who value freedom that is a happy thought. Murdoch has been a pernicious enemy of a free democratic process, calling politicians to heel through threats or through promises of support. Although his newspapers are a relatively small part of his empire- so much so that he has been able to close a centuries old newspaper without a second thought- the control he has exerted has made even Prime Ministers quake. That is not a power that an Australian, naturalized American should have in Britain. Though he exercises his power through an international business: through News Corporation into News International, nevertheless it is a very personal power....

James Murdoch has not cooled public anger with his closure of the News of the World . In fact the large number of sackings that this tactical move involves makes his own position, not just that of the indefensible Rebekah Brooks, increasingly precarious. He may also- simply as collateral damage- have wrecked industrial relations in the rest of Wapping. Certainly there are rumours of sympathy strikes at The Sun . More importantly though, the radical move has been greeted with a mixture of cynicism and cold fury in the wider world. Cynicism, because creating a seven day Sun has clearly been a Murdoch goal for some time and cold fury, because the 400 or so NoTW workers lose their jobs while Brooks- for the moment- still keeps hers. The rest of the media are uniting to give the entire Murdoch business the biggest kicking that they can muster. James Murdoch's strategy: sacrifice NoTW now, Brooks later, looks pretty threadbare, indeed is so transparently an attempt to save his own sk...

Well, the Murdoch scandal is becoming the gift that just keeps giving. The announcement by James Murdoch that the News of the World will close after Sunday's edition was one of several ideas that have been running round the blogosphere- after all the idea of separate Sunday titles has been unpopular with newspaper managements for some time. At one extreme is the steady death of the Observer as a separate title, at the other the increasingly full integration of the two Independent titles. So the closure of the NoTW has probably been discussed by News International in various contexts long before now. However it was probably not discussed in the context of the kind of scandal explosion that has now taken place. However, while it may be good business for Murdoch to take the opportunity to do what he may have wanted to do anyway, it may not- yet- get News International off the hook. By taking such a drastic step at what is still a relatively early stage in the crisis, it may refocus ...

As I suggested a couple of days ago, the News International phone hacking scandal is emerging as a humdinger - very much the British Watergate. The Management of NI is implicated, and there is now an increasing focus on the relationship between the Police and NI which links corrupt payments made for information directly to the initial cover-up of the extent and scope of the phone hacking. As advertisers now run for cover, as those whose phones were or may have been hacked express increasing outrage, life at the top of News International seems set to become very lonely. Jeremy Hunt's rightful decision to delay his decision on integrating BSKYB with the rest of the News International organisation may the first of many blows to hit the Dirty Digger. The fact is that the scandal is gaining stronger momentum as the politicians realize that they are finally free of the pressure from Murdoch. All of the dirt on all of the politicians in the world will now avail News International nothin...

It has been common knowledge for some time that News International routinely hacked mobile phones. Many of the great stories of the past 15 or 20 years have probably been the result of this illegal activity. Even the "Squidgy-gate" story of 1990 now appears to have been the direct result of illegal journalistic snooping. The Milly Dowler phone hacking was a new low, but in precisely the same tradition of illegal and immoral activity. News International has a clear case to answer, but they are not the only ones. Why did the initial Police investigation into phone hacking conclude that only a few "bad apples" were responsible, when that was quite clearly not the case? The evidence is strong that politicians and the police were placed under intense pressure by the News International organisation to curtail the investigation. In other words there has been a deliberate cover up. The question is now: who is complicit in this extraordinary scandal? How did the Murdoch...