IS THIS THE BEGINNING OF THE END FOR CAMERON?

David Cameron has made some errors of judgement since coming to power just over a year ago.

A coalition of his right of centre party with a left of centre party may have been the first, for, although it seems not to have hurt him in the country, he has made some dangerous enemies inside his party. From there on in he has U-turned himself into something resembling a corkscrew on health, welfare, law and order, crime and punishment, the environment, finance, the EU, the “respect” agenda, and on and on... so much so that whilst those of us who are of a different political colour have not known whether to laugh or cry, followers have found themselves with an easier choice and a bill for Kleenex!

I’ve always said that Cameron had no substance; that he owed his success to a mixture of wealth (and the clout that that brings), a distant familial relationship with royals (and the clout that that brings) and his natural ability as a PR man. He lacks depth and intellectual vigour and his upbringing has left him with as much idea of what goes on in the head of Monsieur Tout le Monde as I have of the passing thoughts of the Sultan of Brunei.

But perhaps the most important example of his lack of judgement has been in his choice of friends.

Every prime minister, it appears, has to make some sort of respectful concession to one of the country’s most powerful men, News International’s (NI) Rupert (I have a file on everyone) Murdoch, but David, because he could, decided to go farther.

Not only did he court friendship with Rebekah Wade-Brookes, inviting her to dinner, and dining at her home while her organisation was in the midst of negotiations to acquire BSkyB, over which the business and later culture secretary had the final say, but he insisted on employing, as press secretary, her disgraced colleague, Andy Coulson, who had resigned from NI over the scandal of phone hacking minor royals. “I believe”, he said, “in giving people a second chance”.

I wouldn’t have touched him with a tarry pole. He was damaged goods, and either he lied through his teeth to get the job, or Cameron believed that with the police in the pockets of NI, all would be well. The people at the top would look after each other, as they always had.

But bit by bit the stitching came apart. More and more people reported their phones had been tapped. This time “celebrities”, then politicians...then Coulson resigned, leaving us to suppose that the worst was yet to come.
As come it has. Victims of crime have been hacked; police inquiries into murder have been hampered; police have been in the pay of NI, and the person who signed the cheques was Cameron’s boy Andy (Second Chance) Coulson.

The last I read was that phones of soldiers killed in action may have been hacked. Just how much lower is there to go?

Mr Cameron is associated closely with the people at the top of an organisation which knew these things were going on no matter how hard they try to act as if they didn’t, despite everyone expressing “shock and horror”; Rebekah, David and even Rupert.

So, were all these people naive, gullible fools who just sometimes wondered where all these fabulous stories were coming from? Or are they hard hitting million/billionaires, who knew but didn’t care?

And are David Cameron and his premiership forever tainted by association with them? Indeed is it time to look for a prime minister with a little substance?

PHONE HACKING IS SO 2010

No, don't worry, Rupert hasn't taken us over, yet.

The phone hacking scandal isn’t going away anytime soon.

That is one of the messages from this programme (which I think can only be seen in the UK).

I’d recommend you watch this if you can find the time. The unpalatable truth it uncovers, not just on the News of the World or indeed, News International, but a wide range of other organisations, including the police and the prime minister, is worth knowing.

It seems, as Munguin’s Republic has been saying for some time, that there are far too many people who are scared of Rupert Murdoch. People didn’t like to admit it, indeed Alistair Campbell denied it, but big John Prescott admitted that they were very wary of taking on the Sun or the News of the World. On all four occasions when MPs on the Cross Bench Media group asked Rebekah Wade (senior manager of NI) to testify before them, she declined. An option to ask the Serjeant at Arms to issue a warrant for her was dismissed because (it is alleged) they were afraid that their personal lives would be put under the microscope by the paper.

The police certainly seem dislike investigating any accusations levelled against News International and the programme looks at the reasons behind this. Could it be that they fear over cautious scrutiny of their personal affairs? Or could it be that Murdoch has the power to offer a career change? Certainly the officer in charge of the original enquiries into phone hacking which saw a royal correspondent and a freelance detective imprisoned, and was then dropped for supposed lack of evidence, now strangely works as a columnist for a Murdoch newspaper. A well paying, and relatively easy job (after all Coleen Rooney can do it). And him just a simple bobby!

Cameron’s judgment must come into question. Why did he employ Coulson? The NoTW editor was hands on to the point of micro management, but didn’t know his journalists were phone tapping? He was also accused of bullying his staff at the paper, and yet he was employed by Cameron at the very heart of government. Did Cameron ask any questions about his part in the phone tapping? After all he resigned over it. Did he ask about the bullying? If so, did Coulson lie, or did Cameron just take him on anyway? Or did Rupert make it a condition of his support. Was it the Sun what done it?

We also have to doubt the wisdom of the prime minister while his government was discussing the News International deal with BskyB, having dinner with Rebekah Wade, and passing it off as a meeting with a constituent (which she is), but neglecting to admit that James Murdoch (who is not) was also at the dinner. As Ms Wade is married, it’s unlikely that he was only there as a partner on a constituency matter. In any case, does the prime minister have the time to have dinner with all his constituents?

He should have been anywhere but near either of them while these matters were being examined.

The final part on this story looks to the future in the tabloid world. Phone hacking is now ‘stone age’ (and in any case most celebrities are wise to it anyway), but to replace it we now have wifi hacking where a journalist will hack into the wifi systems in, say, an hotel lobby where meetings are going on. (S)he will then feed spyware into the computers of the users in the lobby and be able to hack into documents, downloads, emails etc....

It’s worrying. And because the government and the police are afraid of the press, it’s not about to stop.

One cheering note. It appears with the information that is coming to light, that friend Coulson may have lied at the trial of Tommy Sheridan, as a result of which, he may be joining the tan man in the pokey in the not too distant future.

Pics: You can't really blame them. He is, after all scary! Bet that suit cost more than my house!! Dave "over my shoulder go 500 cares" Cameron. Rebekah sweetie, be careful with that phone. Maybe someone will play you at your own game. Wouldn't it just be the jam on the toast if someone wiped the supercilious grin off this one's face by putting him in the same cell as Tommy?