Les tricoteuses

[ThisIsANiceCage]

New thread to continue from God those NoW journos were utter scum weren't they?

Met office chief????

what, they hacked the weather too????

ponders i really think ken could be on equally dodgy ground - and wasn't Blair Commissioner when the original investigations went on - and when his officers were taking "perks" from NI?

Met office chief????

what, they hacked the weather too????

That could explain a lot!

oh god, I don't know, teej

(I need a running timeline with spider-lines to all other relevant actions & events available at all times)

Did he really have to resign!!!!! i think this is turning into a witch hunt.

ponders - from wiki - Ian Warwick Blair, Baron Blair of Boughton, Kt, QPM (born 19 March 1953) is a retired British Police Officer who held the position of Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis from 2005 to 2008 and was the highest ranking officer within the Metropolitan Police Service.

i don't think even the most intricate crochet work could represent this web of intrigue!

\link{http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/15/phone-hacking-met-police-guardian?CMP=twt_gu\didn't he, chipstick?}

'Scotland Yard's most senior officers tried to convince the Guardian during two private meetings that its coverage of phone hacking was exaggerated and incorrect without revealing they had hired Neil Wallis, the former deputy editor of the News of the World, as an adviser.
The first meeting in December 2009, which included the Metropolitan police commissioner Paul Stephenson, was two months after Wallis was employed by the Yard as a public relations consultant.'

(read the whole thing)

This just gets murkier and murkier. Suppose all the other senior tories are keeping quiet because every time Dave says something he's unsaying it 24 hours later. He's been agreeing with Ed a lot this past few weeks.

No witch hunt. He badly stuffed up including letting them arrest his NI friend Rebekah before our MPs had a chance to ask her questions. I am furious.

I knew there was something odd about the weather over the last couple of years or so.

so, that's what the TOries meant when they said they were considering selling the Met!

bornsicky until they found out they had already sold out

Maybe they thought:
keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
Why do I have the feeling that they got it all mixed up?

Teejwood your post at 20.58 says it all really.

i dont read the guardian ponders it brings me out in hives

that will ensure you are always well-informed, chipstick

(I do read the DM even though it brings me out in hives)

I do too ponders. You know, just to remain up to date with the latest, "Immigrant family of 30 live in mansion in Chelsea on the Taxpayer".

"i dont read the guardian ponders it brings me out in hives"

"that will ensure you are always well-informed, chipstick"

Particularly wrt phone hacking, where the rest of Fleet St was being very, very, quiet.

Funny that.

By the way, I don't what part this should have in the mix, but listening to Boris Johnson has reminded me that he was the first political head of a Police Authority.

The Tories would like to place all the police authorities under democratically elected commissioners. Which sounds nice till you realise that actually means politicians.

To win these commissioner elections, the candidates will no doubt seek the support of the media. And would need campaign donations from... who? So those unhealthy relationships would be there from the start.

I'm not sure what I think (or even know) about current UK policing structures, but I do know the US suffers appallingly from local corruption because the support of local bigwigs has so much influence on who gets elected police chief - all favours to be called in later.

Very good point, ThisIsANiceCage.

Good grief. What next?

But if cops can't be trusted & politicians can't be trusted, who should be in charge of the police????

(MN maybe?)

Yvette Cooper's gone for the jugular:

"It is striking that Sir Paul has taken responsibility and answered questions about the appointment of the deputy editor of the News of the World whereas the prime minister still refuses to recognise his misjudgement and answer questions on the appointment of the editor of the News of the World at the time of the initial phone hacking investigation.

People will wonder at why different rules apply for the prime minister and the Met, especially when as Sir Paul said himself, unlike Andy Coulson, Neil Wallis had not been forced to resign from the News of the World.

Ms Cooper said it was a "very serious concern" that the commissioner had felt unable to inform the prime minister about the issue with Mr Wallis because of David Cameron's relationship with Andy Coulson.

It appears that their compromised relationship with Andy Coulson has put the commissioner in a very difficult position and made it even harder for the Met to maintain confidence around this difficult issue.

Both David Cameron and Theresa May must take their share of the responsibility for this situation."

From the Guardian

C+P so chipstick doesn't have to sully themselves by clicking on their site.