"Carthago Delenda Est"

I'm still worried that victory in the war against the Murdoch press has been declared prematurely. There's far too much triumphalism being bandied about in TV documentaries and on the web. OK, they may have closed one of their titles, withdrawn their bid for the remainder of BSkyB, prostrated themselves in front of a Select Committee, and we've still got the inquiry into press conduct to come, but the Murdochs haven't been defeated yet. The reality is that until their empire has been completely destroyed, they will remain a threat to the very fabric of this country's political system. With enemies this dangerous, you simply can't afford to give any quarter. It's something the Romans understood. During the Third Punic War fought between 149BC and 146BC 'Carthago delenda est' - 'Carthage must be destroyed' - became a popular rallying call in Rome. The Roman Republic knew that the cycle of conflict between itself and its main rival for control of the Mediterranean - the city state of Carthage - could only be broken by the total defeat of one or the other of them. As long as Carthage existed, it would pose a threat, economic, political and military, to Rome. Consequently, in 146BC the Romans finally razed their rival to the ground and sold its surviving citizens into slavery. You can still see the ruins of the once mighty Carthage in Tunisia, whilst Rome remains resplendent.

Clearly, I'm not suggesting that we all go down to Canary Wharf and burn News International's offices to the ground and force their remaining journalists to work for nothing at The Guardian. However, we do need to seize this moment, when the bastards are, at least temporarily, on the back foot, in order to move to break up this evil empire. With parliament in recess, it looked like some of the urgency had gone out of the whole hacking debate, especially after it was eclipsed as a news story by the terrible events in Norway. But today the story came roaring back with allegations that the News of the World might have hacked the phone of Sara Payne, whose daughter was murdered by a paedophile. What makes this particular revelation especially repugnant is the fact that the mobile phone in question was apparently given to Payne by the paper, which had cosied up to her in the aftermath of her daughter's murder, championing her campaign for the so-called 'Sarah's Law'. But should we be surprised, yet alone shocked by this? Surely we all knew already that the Murdoch press is essentially amoral, it really doesn't care about right and wrong, or common decency - all it cares about is whether any issue it decides to champion can deliver increased sales. Whilst it must always be tempting to seek the backing of a high circulation tabloid when it offers its services, campaigners really need to think very carefully about who they are climbing into bed with. Whether it is Sara Payne or charities working for UK servicemen, this whole sordid business has highlighted the fact that the Murdoch press just doesn't give a toss about the morality of the issue it is supposedly backing - it's all about boosting circulation and profits. 'Carthago delenda est'!