Should David Cameron resign?

[reelingintheyears]

Given that Paul Stephenson and John Yates have done so over their 'misjudgements' when hiring Neil Wallis should DC be accountable for his poor judgement in hiring Andy Coulson?

There was no successor in place when Thatcher resigned

He appointed Coulson in spite of warnings, he is a neighbour and close friend of both Rebekah Brooks and Elizabeth Murdoch. They are spending Christmas day together, they are regularly popping across the road for drinky-poos. DC doesn't look good in all of this but I seriously doubt anybody would be calling for his resignation. The prospect fills me with dread because what are the alternatives to DC as PM? We would get some other awful bloody Tory or worse Nick Clegg. As for Ed Milliband - ick! He is the most unconvicing leader - a wet lettuce. Gawd 'elp us.

I'm surprised at that, Molly. Or perhaps its when parliament has no confidence in the government, not in one individual within the government.

In a general election we vote for our MP.
The members of the party vote for the leader of the party, and if that party has the majority, that person is the prime minister.
We have never voted for a prime minister before.
(even though some thicko people seem to choose to forget this when complaining about Gordon Brown's pm-ship)

And - while I'm here:
Maggie Thatcher was the first one to try to seduce the media to support her.
It seems Gordon Brown wouldn't play ball, possible either why or because they didn't like him.
The PR trained (I think?) smarmy Cameron has used it as one of his main tactics, you have to admit that. It was evident during the election campaign, and more and more we are hearing about his too close relationship with the media controllers (ie people who control what we get to hear about).

It all sounds a bit to much like a james bond film to me.
Or the prequel to 1984.

I think a leadership switch would be a good start

Despite News International throwing their weight behind the campaign for the Conservatives, and despite the Labour Party being dead in the water, the Tories still couldn't convince the the voting public to give them a majority.

Call me Dave was warned about Coulson's dodgy past by many, many people. He was well aware of the criminality that went on under Coulson's editorship. But, despite being warned that employing Coulson was a potential political death knell, he went ahead and did it anyway. It shows either stupendous arrogance or stupendously poor judgement. Neither of which is a desirable trait in a PM. I'm sure there will be further revelations about Call me Dave's dodgy dealings in the past still to come to light.

As for Osbourne, he was the one who encouraged him to employ Coulson. They both are tainted.

If all this had blown up at a different time of year I think life would have become very uncomfortable for Cameron in Parliament; though no, probably not enough to make him fall on his sword.

He's lucky in the timing, isn't he?

More than anything, I would like him to address the issue fair and square of what he was told about Coulson before he appointed him. We need to know that before we can decide about his resigning or being replaced. The resignation of a PM in disgrace would be a distaster for the country, but if he did employ Coulson knowing he'd been involved in illegal activity, that is very, very serious. Continuing to see him as a friend in an offical residence after it was clear that AC was up to is neck in it was very stupid.

Slug, I completely agree with what you're saying but I still don't think that it's enough for Cameron to resign. Personally.

I'm not a fan - of any politician - and I think the Tories are bonkers but I still don't think he should be forced to resign over this particular issue.

The heat needs to be kept on the corrupt police (so scary), the Murdochs and Brooks and to ensure the our M.P.s never kowtow to a media power again. It's revolting to see all those brave 'heroes' coming out of the woodwork, speaking up now.

sadly agree with GiddyPickle. It won't happen. The best that we can hope for is a great big dent in his popularity and that the stench of corruption will stick to him.

This is also a lot bigger than him. I hate to agree with the nasty Tories on here but this did indeed get far, far bigger under Bliar. The issue is way bigger than party politics: it is about an utterly corrupt semi-oligarchy in which 'opinion-formers' with the biggest market share collude with government and big business to push their own (incidentally right wing, but then I find true nastiness always is post-Stalin) agenda at the expense of the rest of us.

incidentally I thought the Tory comments upthread about how the red-top reading public 'won't give a toss' were very telling.

The events of the last two weeks have shown how deeply ingrained contempt for the manipulable 'little people' is. As long as that remains the dominant attitude we're all buggered except for the so-called 'top' (i.e. richest) 2% or so.

I seriously don't think the newspapers have half as much political sway as people think - particularly the tabloids.

A poll taken during the last election campaign showed that the overwhelming majority of Sun readers assumed the paper is, and always was, a Labour supporting newspaper

certainly- deserves a vote of no confidence...

Yes. Cameron hired the hacker, knowing full well what he'd done but didn't see that as a big issue because he is a bully who gets his own way and nobody would dare mention the truth because Murdoch would kill the career of anyone who did. The New York Times put it very well: "In a way, Mr. Cameron is unlucky. Successive governments, most recently the Labour government of Prime Minister Tony Blair, courted Mr. Murdoch with almost as much fervor as the current one. Mr. Cameron's happened to be the government in power and without a chair when the music stopped."

\link{http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/8646485/Phone-hacking-David-Cameron-dinner-with-James-Murdoch-broke-the-ministers-code.html\another serious error of judgment?}

'In the foreword to the code, Mr Cameron wrote last May of how the Government had a responsibility ?to rebuild confidence in our political system?.
?After the scandals of recent years, people have lost faith in politics and politicians,? he wrote. ?It is our duty to restore their trust.?
He said it was important that ministers were ?transparent about what we do and how we do it?.'

transparent about what we do and how we do it

wouldn't that be nice

Nancy66, they sure had a lot of political sway over the politicians and police. That's big enough for me.

tbh I think the paper with the most pernicious opinion-forming influence is actually the Daily Mail- given the amount of crap I hear being spouted almost verbatim from its pages by readers who are now convinced that if we just get rid of immigrants, the public sector, fortnightly bin collections and the Human Rights Act then Britain will be the great empire it used to be. But that is another thread altogether....

YES YES YES ....HE LEFT THE COUNTRY TWICE WHEN IN CRISIS. COULSON EMPLOYED TWICE... WILLIAM HAGUE IS A DECENT MAN, LETS HAVE HIM AS LEADER!!!

Yes. He should go. He has been in the pockets of NI and made bad decisions based on their demands. He knew why coulson left the sun but still employed him.I think he will go

noddy I wish I had your faith but I still think corruption and apathy are sadly the order of the day in this benighted land....despite the disruptions of the last fortnight I think Murdoch and Cameron will survive, but significantly weakened.

Magaret Thatcher allowed Rupert Murdoch the chance to expand his empire in the UK back in the 80's. So actually whoever said that this happened under Labour's watch, are wrong. The conservatives allowed him to take control of British media in the first place. Also, this isn't the only thing putting a bad mark against David Cameron's name; raising university tuition fees, cutting child benefit, cutting tax credits, abolishing the CTF and certain maternity benefits, reforming the NHS....this government are not making the British public happy, and even with all these cuts, unemployment is still at an all time high and important pillars of our community, such as teachers are going on strike over pensions because of this so-called government.

So, yes, David Cameron should resign.

Welll, I loathe the Tories, but I don't see any likelihood of Cameron going unless there is something major that hasn't come out. As many people have said, we don't vote for a PM, but for MPs and the largest party (or coalition of parties) forms the government.

So if the Conservatives felt that DC was a liability, I guess (a la Thatcher) they would force him out & elect a new leader to be PM. But since there doesn't currently seem to be any electoral effect on the Conservatives from this scandal (looking at the polls), I don't see why they'd do that.

And I have to say (as a life long Left voter) that frankly Labour have waded around in the shit with News International just as much as the Tories. Maybe, just maybe, that will change, and Ed M will shovel things out a bit, but I'm not sure I'm holding my hopes up high. (It would be nice if he had a few policies, too . . .)

"incidentally I thought the Tory comments upthread about how the red-top reading public 'won't give a toss' were very telling.

The events of the last two weeks have shown how deeply ingrained contempt for the manipulable 'little people' is. As long as that remains the dominant attitude we're all buggered except for the so-called 'top' (i.e. richest) 2% or so."

Absolutely. The Tories on MN are always sneering and jeering at anyone with a difference of opinion.

In fact, they regard anyone with a different opinion to be merely misinformed or uneducated. Typical snooty attitude that does not foster debate and discussion which of course, is what they prefer.

Cameron won't resign. His government did have the choice to stop brown nosing NI but it chose not to. Just like the other governments before his. But he won't resign.

I wonder if they'll find out NI have been hacking 9/11 victims 'phones as well.. .. .. .. . .