Cameron on the back foot

RCE

"One of the hallmarks of Cameron’s career has been that he’s been the politician in touch with the age."

O tempora! O mores!

Maggie

- David Cameron is a Prime Minister who takes his role seriously. He has a country to run and an economy to repair and is quite correct in spending his time doing just that.
- Ed Miliband and his cohorts have nothing to do but waste time and money repeating all the things they've already said over and over again during the past week and trying to get on TV.

alcazar

He will do himself enormous damage by not replying in the Opp motion today. I know he is giving a statement prior to that, but that is on a related but very distinct matter - the judicial inquiry. The debate is narrowly drawn to be on BSkyb, not that inquiry. Why dodge? Is he just plain frit?

In2minds

Cameron - "and then deciding not to" - Cameron breaks a promise. A very rare and newsworthy event.

Fatbloke on tour

JF

When is it going to sink in at SpeccyLand Central, Dave the Rave is JM (1)'s political stunt double circa 87/88.

Completely useless would only be the start of any detailed appraisal of his leadership abilities, he is AE without the backstory.

Once the press turn on him he is toast.
JM (2) must wonder why he got all the sh*t and Dave the Rave was getting all the plaudits.

Oh how the establishment love a polished, public school educated, nice boy with good connections.

File under complete muppet.
He is so bad he makes Sniffy look good.

Come in DD, your time is now.
You might be a right wing mentalist but at least you are real.

Gawain

This has now become risible. With a financial crisis in Europe, a US government about to run out of cash and two difficult wars to fight the whole of this News International farrago is a low grade soap opera. It looks to me as if the whole of our political and media class are autistic.

Magnolia

But the age is decadent, spun and formed in the image of and by the New Labour Years.
The political leaders and their career wives are part of the problem, of the detachment from what we once were.
The cabinet is full of youngish men who have no idea how to 'Conserve' the best in it's true sense because they are just 'blowin' in the wind', to coin a phrase, with events of their time like leaves in autumn.
The Prime Minister is Labour's finest legacy.

Richard Marriott

The news of the day is The Sun's expose of Brown as the delusional hypocrite we all in reality knew he was.

The issue which caused all the furore was the Milly Dowler case - that exposed a sewer of activity by the News of the World.

For Labour to pile in opportunistically however, beggars belief - what were they up to for the years in question? Brown was clearly brown nosing Murdoch and now he has lost all shreds of any credibility!

BigAl

Sometimes I think it is wise to stand back and let the school boy politicians like MilliE with their fake indignation and opportunistic rants make fools of themselves. Any close scrutiny of Labour and NI will show there were close for a decade or more. Perhaps the enquiry can look into this in detail.....

Jane

Shame that he is Prime Minister and has a huge amount of commitments. It is disgraceful that people are complaining about his being unable to attend when he only knew this week about the motion.

I very much agree with Gawain about other issues dominating the world such as the Euro Crisis, two wars as well as a mountain of other issues. Must the PM now rearrange appointments to fit in with the baying mob in the commons who are enjoying the press bashing. Oh how they hate the press or any other body such as the police who dare to tell us about their misdemeanours, criminality and abuse of taxpayers money. It appears to be payback time. Very unfitting to even have the debate when we all know that once the hoo ha dies down and assuming that no director of New Corp is charged with a criminal offence, the deal will go ahead. As far as I can tell BSKYB has always complied with Broadcasting Regulations and have not demonstrated their unfitness to continue to do so.

We are not terribly interested in the debate which has no standing in law. Further, nothing much will change in the years ahead - we all know that. After all, politicans have known for decades about the improper and illegal actions by some journalists. I have even read that GB even suspended legislation on blagging at the behest of Paul Dacre. It is all rather late in the day for MPs to show this indignation. We are tired of it all.

Vulture

For all his tortured prose, and impenetrable nicknames invented by himself the Fat One has it about right.

The way David Cameron has bungled every issue - from forests to the NHS, from the EU to prison sentences, and from Libya to Hackgate - that has arisen in his short but inglorious Premiership has shown staggering, flip-flopping, treacherous incompetence at every turn.

He was supposed at least to be good at PR, but since Coulson's departure, he has flunked that too. The man is a stumbling disaster and he has got to go. For unless he does, Labour - yes even under Miliband - will be back.

Daveo delenda est.

alcazar

Well if Dave The Rave changed his mind within 24 hours let's chalk it up as .............. another U turn!

Doppelganger

If being "in touch" or "getting it" means Cameron's useless leadership of his party and country, I'd rather experience complete sensory deprivation.

Philip Walker

"The FT, the Lib Dem’s paper of choice"

I assume you meant "Lib Dems'", but "Lib Dem's" sounds closer to the truth. There probably is only one Lib Dem who is an FT fan.

Tiberius

With the Opposition bowling fast, but short and wide, you'd expect Cameron to be on the back foot, James.

And he's quite capable of cutting for four through the vacant third man area, even if one or two find a thick edge past the slips.

an ex-tory voter

@ Tiberius

Yes, and he would certainly recognise a "full tosser" when he saw one.

daniel maris

I wouldn't trust the Guido website folks. My virus protection tells me the site is full of phishing software.

pottsy

Well said, Gawain. The media class has disappeared up its own arse.
The euro teeters on a cliff edge but the BBC is obsessed with NI, the lefties' favourite scapegoat.

michael

RM has an uncanny ability to bring out the worst in people.

Publius

What Gawain said.

And how, Mr Forsyth, will you and your fellow hacks be changing your own behaviour? Will you be bursting the cosy little club wide open, or will you continue to play your games?

Axstane

Every political news story that breaks is the result of a lead or tip-off to a journalist. On many instances that lead is paid for.

This is true and one does not need to read impenetrable codes and veiled comments on this blog.

Why such as Vulture bother to work up her daily attack on Cameron without any considerations of the merits is beyond me. But beware Vulture, the Daily Mail will soon gets its uppance as well. Perhaps only the Guardian and the Independent will stay clear of the rising tide of effluent.

Journalist who do not have such sources are simply commentators - analysing facts already widely known.

At the end of this Shakespearian Tragedy it may well be that of the lead characters only Cameron will be left rejoicing as one rat after another will rat on other rats. Let us not forget that Miliband has his own private rat.

Liz Brown

I am now totally fed up with this insider story - move on - financial crises in the EUSSR trouble in the Arabias, looming energy crises and soaring cost of supplies and all you can talk about is NI

Mirtha Tidville

God I`m bored.....sick to the back teeth of Murdoch but just as sick of all the back stabbing,hypocracy and self righteous pricks. Its got tedious beyond belief..Joe Public is way past it all now lets move on to something else....

callingallcomets

Well said, Gawain.....the Speccies are obsessed with this (as with all other hacks) because it's media reporting about media. What hacks never grasp is everyone else, including estate agents, despise hacks for being self important toadying liars who put more effort into their expenses claims then actual honest to goodness research.

lescam

I find it hard to believe that Gordon Brown has the chutzpah to complain about dirt-digging stories, when he spent just about the whole 13 years of the Labour govt doing just the same. Employing Damian McBride, Charlie Whelan et al, to smear and brief against Blair and just about anyone who dared to stand up to Bully Brown. What goes around, comes around. After hubris, comes nemesis. Brown, do us all a favour and crawl back under your stone.

RCE

Axstane @ 2:03,

It certainly should not; the Indy has got Johann Hari and the Guardian has got wikileaks.

For ggod measure, the BBC has got the Primark Panorama, Balen Report and pension fund/AGW-industry conflict-of-interest.

Sir Everard Digby

Fatbloke,

Your continued virtual hyper-ventilation begins to worry me. Calm down dear. This is a pantomime.There will be much shouting,then it will pass. Bugger all will change. The Political Classes and the media/lobby love each other too much to divorce. They are too lazy to work in a world of scrutiny and standards.

You can't teach these particular canines new tricks.

Cameo Parkway Kid

I'm not surprised that The Rave has got no time to attend the BSkyB debate this afternoon - after getting in bed with the biggest SIGINT operation this side of Benhall, and appointing someone from within that set-up as his Communications Director (without positively vetting him and therefore compromising the security of the UK state), I imagine the poor dear is up to his knees in shredding and smashing hard-drives and USB sticks galore.

FvH

lets face it Cameron was fairly damaged before this Murdoch business exploded - unless there's a Coulson smoking gun he'll cling on but we can all kiss goodbye to any serious reform now - depressing!