Bad News

It just keeps getting better, doesn't it? I'm scared to move too far way from a TV or the radio, for fear of missing the next resignation caused by the phone hacking scandal. So far this monster has consumed an entire newspaper, at least of Murdoch's most senior executives and yesterday the Metropolitan Police Commissioner. I thought that might be it for a while. But no, today the Assistant Metropolitan Police Commissioner followed his boss out of the door. Is it too much to hope that David Cameron could soon be engulfed by the crisis too? Sadly, it probably is - unless clear evidence emerges of Dave having taken backhanders from News International, deliberately blocking the original investigation or using hacked material for political gain, I suspect he'll survive. Which isn't to say that he hasn't been severely compromised by his close association with the Murdochs, Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks. If nothing else, his position, even within his own party, will have been weakened and his public standing irrevocably damaged.

Amazingly, barely more than a week ago, I was worried that, with the closure of the News of the World, the whole campaign against News International could be running out of steam. Instead, the whole thing seems to have taken on a life of its own - like a genie released from a bottle. Murdoch has been forced to throw more and more of his people to the wolves in a desperate attempt to protect his son, Mini-Roop, not to mention himself. But no matter how many sacrificial victims he offers up to this rampaging monster, it still won't go away. Nevertheless, my feelings remain the same - it would still be a mistake to declare victory prematurely. It's like General Patton always said: the best tactics are always to advance. Never dig in, never give up any ground. Right now, I think we should be widening the campaign beyond just the Murdoch empire. Let's not forget that the likes of the Daily Mail and Daily Express spit out a stream of bigoted right wing bile to middle England on a daily basis - unlike the Murdoch tabloids, with their fixation on celebrity gossip and scandal, these papers have a much clearer political agenda. They should be subjected to the same scrutiny as the Murdoch press - you can guarantee that they've got skeletons in their closets, too.