God, those NoW journos were utter scum weren't they?

[headfairy]

apparently by deleting Milly's messages her family still had some hope that she might still be alive

Jux-I ant see that happening-thy have just lost one ring master (NotW), I think Cameron is too slippery for it to vet to that point.

News at 1 going to be interesting!

Morgan was at Mirror Group when all this was happening. Doesn't mean he's innocent of this kind of thing, but not involved in this specific thing

no way Cameron will fall for this.. he's far too slippery. However it's yet again another reason to question his judgement. He admitted he'd spoken to people about hiring Andy Coulson, they must have said don't touch him with a bargepole because what was going on there has been rumoured for yonks. If Cameron has got half a brain he wouldn't have touched Andy Coulson, but I think Cameron seriously thinks he's cleverer than the rest of us and could dodge that one.

Ah, just seen press conference. Dc has dug himself a hole.

I am listening to the radio 4 news and Cameron is claiming "I was not given any specific information" re Coulson.

Remind you of anyone?

Yes, I was intrigued by the "I and I alone" bit of DC's press conference.

The normal reading of that would be sanitisation - DC to be sacrificed if the contagion threatens the Tory party.

headfairy well, cameron managed to convince millions of people that he would be a good prime minister, so why wouldn't his egomania lead him to believe that he could hire whoever he liked and slip away from the shitstorm?

however, what I find interesting is the telegraph are ripping cameron a new arsehole right now. They've never liked his brand of new tory-isms, so prime opportunity for them to get well rid.

To give them a little credit though, i do get the feeling that the telegraph are also very unhappy that their industry is being discredited by tabloid journalism.

like the guardian, both papers have ulterior motives, but centrally they do both seem very forthright that murdoch empire needs to be cleared up and cleared off for ethical reasons as much as anything else.

Sean Ley is giving Ed Miliband hard time right now - he had a meeting with R Mordoch 2 weeks ago and also has recently appointed an ex news intl guy as his head of comms and Ley won't let it go.

They are all at it, not just Cameron.

Did RB offer to resign? The Guardian suggested that this might be the case, but then retracted it. Did she?

I just watched Newsnight clip on the BBC website where Alan Rusbridger explains to Kirsty that he and other Fleet Street people warned Cameron about Coulson.

Cameron is fucked, IMO.

TerribleTriplets, DC hired a guy who is mired up to his forehead in the muck. TB (though I loathe him equally) wasn't so bloody stupid. While the RM papers are all suffering massively with credibility right now, it's the perfect time to take advantage, and for MPs to go for the jugular, if they've got the guts.

On the Hugh Grant on newsnight thread, much is made of his having gone to Oxford. Well, DC to a first at Oxford, so please do not take attendance at Oxford as a measure of good judgement. He was warned, by Rushbridger, and others. But Blair was equally seduced. And, talking of second chances, Jeffrey Archer was given a 'second chance' by John Major, and that did not go well.

I agree, Jux, it was a misjudgement par excellence. Also he was warned. DC was a PR man, and I do not know how he could be so stupid. No argument there.

OK everybody. You may wish to put the following phrase into Google:

Yard bosses 'feared paper would

This was part of a headline in the print version of the Evening Standard yesterday, but the story now been stripped out of the website and is not (fully) cached by Google.

The story may, of course, not be true.

bornsticky the red tops have been winding up the broadsheets for years about being worthy and not making a penny while the NoTW makes millions each year. Part of the whole Fleet Street game. If you're at top of your game journo do you go to the biggest selling papers of the day (The Sun and the NoTW) and write crap all day for illiterates to dribble over while you're paid a 6 figure salary or do you go to the worthy broadsheets and have a readership of about 6 people?

I'm not surprised the broadsheets are revelling in the downfall of the NoTW.

donnie James O'Brien on LBC was hinting heavily that Rushbridger had taped conversations with DC where Rushbridger was advising him that Andy Coulson was up to his ears in shit.

thisisanicecage hahaha, very clever! Red tops always like to keep a few things in hand in case they get in to trouble...

thisisanicecage don't think anything else can shock me after all this

would the police be able to use blackmail as a defence?

still no word from clegg

ofcom are now saying that they are deeply concerned over what has happened over the last few days

thisisanicecage - just googled it and the story has already been taken down!

headfairy yes, of course the money and bigger readership is a factor, but so is the frustration with the tabloid lack of ethics and fascination with gossip and dirt.

Many of the writers/journalists I know do their jobs because they have a genuine pride in producing good work, and especially with investigative journalism - getting to the bottom of major corruption/a story and pushing it to the top of the agenda, so change can happen.

I don't think the same can ever be said of the red tops. Sure, they break a story on a sleb playing away from home, or an MP that's gay, but in the grand scheme of things, that kind of news is bollox and unimportant.

I'd far rather read about the scandals of MPs expenses (telegraph), Iraq War dossiers (Independent) or the downfall of Murdoch for corruption (the guardian).

oh yes clegg......a resounding silence there, no?

hmmmm....(strokes beard in contemplative fashion)

Have been asked to go on Newsnight tonight [nervous] to talk about the mood wrt to the Press - how serious is the breach of trust, will it change our buying habits etc etc.

headfairy - if Rusbridger taped those conversations then surely DC is finished?

oh good luck Justine!

you might have an interesting time there!

FWIW, I definitely think you made the right call. Peston has just published a blog suggesting Ofcom are going to apply a "Fit and proper" test in conjunction with the police enquiries.

Peston blog

go tell 'em