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Coulson, News International and the Labour Party

As Sun Tzu said, victorious warriors win first and then go to war.

In this case, it would seem that the Labour Party has failed this simple test of political strategy. It has tried its best to get this story rolling through its friends in the Guardian and has failed miserably, despite the BBC's best efforts to keep the story alive.

Of course, the biggest mistake is that they have taken on the world's most powerful media mogul to simply get back at the Tories over the Damian McBride affair.

Well, guess what.

Rupert Murdoch is not some third rate spin merchant and Labour have now ensured that the whole might of News International will, rightly or wrongly, be turned against them over the next ten months up to the next general election.

One can only imagine the files his organisation has on senior politicians within the Labour Party. The storm is most definitely coming.

Comments

D Hughes said…
Good! I hope Mr Murdoch will take Labour Party to the cleaners. And good riddance.
Anonymous said…
Goodness, is politics that venal that this is all about the "game" to you?

There is an allegation that many hundreds of public figures, including Cabinet Ministers, have had their voicemail hacked - and the only thing that matters to you is whether it will turn the Murdoch press against Labour.

Time to dunk your head in something cold and try to regain some perspective here, Dylan.
Anonymous said…
"There is an allegation" and that it all it is. Dylan has exactly the right perspective on this. The police have said there is no evidence and the Guardian have no further evidence to show. This is all conjecture that has been fuelled by the disgraced figures of Prescott (liar and adulterer) and Campbell (apologist for Maxwell and the man who led us into the Iraq War). As for past sins, perhaps those in the Labour Party should ask whether Lord Mandelson should be in his post havin resigned twice already.
Anonymous said…
Yes, it's an allegation. But it is the alleged illegal interception of the voicemail messages of perhaps hundreds of public figures that is the the issue here, not whether this is good for the Conservative Party and bad for the Labour Party.

It's no wonder politicians have such a bad name if the first thing they think of when something like this comes to light is what it does to the fortunes of their particular tribe.
Dave said…
What a completely hypocritical comment from yet another labour apologist.

Can't you understand that the whole basis for these 'allegations' is for Labour and their friends in the media to stitch up the Tories as revenge for McBride.

The fact that this whole campiagn is driven by the Guardian and the BBC and supported by Prescott (liar and adulterer) and Campbell (apologist for Maxwell and the man who took us into the Iraq War) says everything you need to know about this whole farce.

This has nothing to do with the law or the truth so get off your high horse and get real.
Anonymous said…
"This has nothing to do with the law or the truth"

That's the whole trouble, isn't it? You don't care about whether there is an issue here (namely the voicemail hacking). All you care about is whether party x can get at party y over it and what it does to their respective fortunes.

Wake up. Stop being a party robot, grow a brain and think for yourself. Have public figures had their privacy illegally intruded upon? Does that include members of the government and opposition? Are there other implications in the way the media conduct themselves?

Everything else is just so much party political bullshit.
Dave said…
What a muppet! The issue here is the much derided political class getting their own back at the fourth estate with little or no evidence. You have already decided the guilt of News International despite the complete lack of evidence so whya re you bothering?

It is only left wing tossers like you who care about this. You are happy to harp on about civil liberties and yet have done nothing to stop this government erode the right of the citizen more than any other in living memory. It must really get your left wing back up that the attempt to discredit Cameron has already fizzled out.

The story is dead - get over it.
It would seem that someone has become quite upset over this post.

The reason I made this particular point was my general surprise that the Labour Government and in particular Peter Mandelson, would have allowed their previous relationship with one of the most powerful news organisations in the world to be damaged in this way.

This was not a party political point just a general surprise that a government that once prided itself on excellent relationships with the press has decided to support attacks on the editors of some of the most influential newspapers in the land, and ten months before a general election.

As for the alleged hacking of 'many hundreds of public figures', then let's wait and see the evidence, which is non-existent at the moment.

One other viewpoint - I also find it fascinating that those individuals who ask for more openness are always anonymous commentators. Actions do speak louder than words.
Anonymous said…
Read into my comments whatever you want, Dylan. But it would be better if you actually just read them without interpretation.

I don't say News International have done anything. All I'm saying is the allegation - and getting to the bottom of it - is the most important thing, not rather pathetic partisan positioning - from any side.

I feel you have lost sight of the issue. An it also seems like you've got the point in your political career you can only see an issue through a party prism. You say there's no evidence; that's patently not true. We know that Private Investigators have been engaged in widespread hacking. What is in dispute is the extent to which journalists at the Sun and NofW authorised or colluded in this illegal activity.

Only a fool - or someone so emeshed in defending a vested interest - would dismiss that out of hand.
Dave said…
"Yet the suggestion that there might be thousands of crimes that had never been properly investigated was almost immediately dismissed by John Yates in his review of the Goodman files.

Prescott’s phone had never in fact been hacked. Yates said that while there may have been hundreds of potential targets, only a small number had had their phone messages compromised. All those people had been contacted.

A senior source with good knowledge of the case said that police had categorised those targeted by Mulcaire into three lists. On the first list, which was fewer than 20 people, were those whose phones had been illegally hacked. This list is thought to include Boris Johnson, now the London mayor, a senior executive at the BBC, and the individuals named in the Goodman court case.

On a second list were 40-50 people. Mulcaire had obtained the mobile numbers of these individuals, but there was no evidence their phones had been unlawfully tapped. Jowell and Sir Ian Blair, the former Met commissioner, are believed to have been on this list.

On the final list were about 400-500 people who were possible targets, but Mulcaire had not even obtained their phone numbers. This list, referred to as the “C” list, is believed to have included Prescott.

This account was backed up by Andy Hayman yesterday; he said the inquiry he headed had uncovered “several hundred names” that had been targeted by Mulcaire. “Of these, there was a small number - perhaps a handful - where there was evidence that the phones had actually been tampered with,” he said.

A non-story
Anonymous said…
Seems like Dylan isn't the only one who has picked up on this issue.

http://politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2009/07/10/has-labour-just-blown-it-with-rupert-murdoch/
Anonymous said…
If Coulson goes, what are the odds that Guto Harri - who turned down the job the first time round - will replace him?

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