Cameron passes test

DavidDP

"Cameron, though, faced Labour jeers when he repeatedly stonewalled on the question of whether he had ever discussed the News Corp’ bid for BSkyB with those who worked for the company. "

This judgement seems to indicate that the success of an answer lies with whether opponents decide not to ask the question. I'm not sure that's entirely robust thinking.

Andy Carpark

A crafty ruse by Boneless Dave to get out of that trip to the Wizard of Oz.

Vulture

If a storm in a media teacup can blow Dave's premiership off course for a fortnight, what the hell will he do when the financial hurricane hits?

Capsize completely is what. This was a stress test and he may have convinced you, James. I don't think he will the others.

Right Way Forward http://rightwayfwd.blogspot.com/

I think the danger has passed full stop. You need to step outside of your Westminster tent, James. People are fed up of this.

michael

ED Milibland's 'apology' demand has moved houses from Westminster to Downing St.
Perhaps he's come to realise that he'll never be able to make the same move.

Yosemite Sam

With reference to the New York Times, could you tell me what the new fact the article contained? There is an allegation, from an anonymous source, as yet unproved or even supported by any other source. That is not new information. It is an allegation - nothing more.

Lonesome Dave

The obvious flip side to this headline is that Miliband fails the test - and how.

The BBC/Guardian/Labour axis have nowhere to go on this except on their holidays!

Chris

James, the dictionary on my MacBook says:

allegation: a claim or assertion that someone has done something illegal or wrong, typically one made without proof.

information: facts provided or learned about something or someone.

Think on.

fasano

Who recruited Damian McBride,Dolly Draper and Charlie Whelan?

Malcolm Redfellow

Two glaring inconsistencies remain:

• "inappropriate conversations" — clearly a qualifying adjective that needs explanation;

• the use of Ed Llewellyn to maintain a veneer of "deniability", which is now exploded by Tom Watson's letter (a letter which was featured by the Labour Uncut site and which has been on Scribd for many months). This one is not "deniable".

Nicholas Hallam

Tom Watson seems to think that he has got the smoking gun with his October letter to Cameron. I can't guess how damaging this could be until the contents are known, but Mr Watson did look more than usually pleased with himself.

Fatbloke on tour

JF

Good try, automatic post from supporter.

Usual stuff still remains, what did he say to Hunt about this subject and how come things have got so bad that he needs to insulate himself from the Met?

He is not doing his job.
He cannot do his job.
He needs to go.

Finally I will ask again -

When Dave the Rave and the "Homophobic Cow" went out riding, was a horse present?

DavidDP

"When Dave the Rave and the "Homophobic Cow" went out riding"

What shame for you this has now been found to be false.

Much like Bryant's lie over the royals this morning.

Or indeed Brown's claim he was never close to the Murdochs. Or Brooks (who organises a party for someone they aren't close to? Perhaps that means the Browns approved of homophobia?).

Labour have lied throughout this issue.

DavidDP

"clearly a qualifying adjective that needs explanation"

I recommend a dictionary. All will become clear.

As for Watson's letter, how much stock would you put in allegations from a political opponent who appeared totally unconcerned at attempts to smear your wife?

Bill Rees

It was quite amusing to hear a Labour woman MP asking Cameron to criticise one of his own MPs who had claimed that the Labour Party was trying to make political capital out of the Dowlers. Cameron politely refused.
But then, when Ed Miliband got up to reply to the debate, the first thing he mentioned was the Dowler family.
He doesn't seem to be the brightest opposition leader we have ever had.

Verityred

Hey Fatgoebbels, your material gets worse, your masters, who pull your floppy strings, expect better. Smears and falsehoods, a Labour party speciality. Crawl back under your Mirror print duvet.

Lonesome Dave

FoT

Good try, automatic post from hater.

Tedious old lad, very tedious...

TrevorsDen

You are too soft on fatbloke Verityred.

Cameron said nothing to Hunt - Hunt has said so repeatedly.
The Met of course were making prize asses of themselves whilst Brown was busily fisting Murdoch.

Fatman has not mentioned 'sniffy' - why is he ashamed to mention Baldwin?

TrevorsDen

And we all by now know about Blair playing footsy with Becky at Cecconi's restaurant in Mayfair.
Blair later ended up being 'cross-fertilised' - and that was not a Freudian slip.

Chris

I'm not that sure impressing loyal tory media backers, is actually "the test"

Mirtha Tidville

Yawn Yawn...this is Amateur Operatics at its most boring. Now lets move on to the real problem which takes place tomorrow on the Euro. Wrong decision and we`ll all be on the front burner. Its things like this that are important, not this custard pie shite..

Liz Brown

@yosemite sam - I think that the allegations wich appeared in the NYT were made by a former and disgruntled employee of NOTW - he had been sacked for misdemeanour whilst there.......
How amy ways are there to skin a cat? Cameron repeatedly said that he had no discussions whter appropriate or inappropriate regarding the BSKB bid - how many times does it need to be repeated........
An intersting concept that Liebour MP's were being tweeted to keep asking the same questions - use of the damn phones should be banned in the House .MPs are either there to work, ask questions and listen to the answers or they shouldn't be there at all
Now, can we please move on, the Euro is crashing and burning, business is stagnating, apparetnly kids are starving (again) in the Horn of Africa and the meeja (the Beeb in particular) are navel gazing - in fact figures show that the Beeb has mentioned the Euro crisis (which affect us all) around 36 times and the hacking scandal in the region of 350+ this week............

Chris

Cameron is toast if you ask me.

He has the Royal Family, the tabloid media, The Lib Dems, the police, the Labour Party all briefing against him.

Support from Theresa May and Boris Johnson has been luke warm at best.

Add to the fact that he’s relying on the loyalty of Lib Dems to keep him in power, and I’d say he’s as good as gone.

The amount of MPs, media outlets, and civil servants who are truly loyal to Cameron has to be low

Chris

"Cameron repeatedly said that he had no discussions whter appropriate or inappropriate regarding the BSKB bid - how many times does it need to be repeated......"

==========================================

He did not. He stated that he’s discussed the News International bid with Rebekah Brookes.

His only commitment was that he had not had “inappropriate” discussions with her.

Who decides what “inappropriate” is?

Jake

why is he ashamed to mention Baldwin?

===========================================

Milliband ended this debate with one sentence today.

It turns out Baldwin's line manager at The Times, was Michael Gove!?

ollie

I think it's fairly obvious to all sane people that Labour have already lost the initiative on these issues.

Listening to Miliband's tribalistic monotone was worse than Chinese water torture today. I'd forgotten just how insipid he is.

Cameron showed that, once again, he is at his very best when he is under pressure. Funnily, the complete opposite to Gordon Brown, who as we all know, was a flat track bully.

Verity

Good old Davie Dimwit, still taking refuge in clichés. "‘With 20:20 hindsight – and all that has followed – I would not have offered him the job’."

Gosh ... really, Dave?

London Calling

Cameron passes the test…I’m willing to give him a second chance :)

How it looks and how it is has two different perspectives…for now how it looks has opened up more questions than answers. How it is, can only be judged over time and hopefully will result in the restoration of our democracy that has long been overdue and overshadowed by a form of manipulative corruption that has without a doubt corroded the very fabric of our society with whom the public had placed all its trust.

Collective amnesia has not only been evident at the controls of the Murdoch empire of which in some cases it appears it was encouraged by the few, collective amnesia was indeed a side effect of the symptoms in which ignorance of the truth prevailed throughout our Kingdom, of which propaganda and witch hunting corrupted the course of judgment on important decisions, one of which stands out that has always alluded me, the decision to go to war in Iraq, at which time News Corp in the US and News International both supported the Republican agenda in the states and the Labour government here in the UK to go to war through propaganda to feed the masses and in doing so manipulated not only the truth but the outcome.

I agree with a comment made on a previous post, we do indeed have a tsunami on the Horizon coming towards us economically via Europe and the US and my hope is that if we are to gain anything from these past two weeks, we are alert and ready to distinguish the facts from the fiction and proceed together with the scrutiny and diligence expected at this time.

On a positive note…when Pandora released all the evils of the world from her Jar (not box) she Was permitted to keep one item, which was hope…this was already known…

paulg

The one simple indesputible fact is that all this alledged criminality: phone hacking, bribing the police, cover ups and conspiracy happened when N.I & New Labour, were in bed with each other.

None of this could have happened unless politicians in power turned a blind eye too it.

The politicians in power were Labour. Or what ever they call themselves now.

This point must be hammered home, over and over again. No consensus can be reached with the venal. It is time to go on the attack, and Coulson must provide the evidence for it.

DavidDP

"Milliband ended this debate with one sentence today."

No he didn't. The employment of Baldwin who was used by Labour to leak the name of Dr David Kelly , driving the man to commit suicide, needs to be addressed. Was this a reward for helping to rid Labour of a troublesome individual? We need to be told.

As an aside, interesting that "Jake" and "Chris" (you may need to update yourself on the Royal Family, who have pronounced themselves furious at Bryant for lying about them) have used precisely the same unique formating style.

Cameo Parkway Kid

Hmmn, The pass mark must have been 20% then.

So Dave, did you flog off BSkyB over dinner??
'Err, hmmmn, wibble'.
Say again oh Raving one?
'Flobba lob'.

Well that'll be alright then, another tawdry Tory sleazebucket on the take?
'Err, it was difficult to say no with Becky's thumb up my ricker'.

And Ollie, better to be classed insane rather than a clueless dipshat.

strapworld

paulg, you are correct, but that does not get Cameron out of the hole he has kept digging.

The fact to bear in mind is that while Labour. the BBC, Mail, Guardian, Independent were united in their venom against NI and dashing Dave. No Tory MP or Cabinet Minister or Junior Minister came out in support, lukewarm or otherwise, of Cameron. One would have thought that boy George would have stood by him as it was he that convinced Cameron to employ Coulson!

That said, Milliband made a pigs ear of his attack. He really should have just asked one question. 'When will you resign as Prime Minister' But no he laboured the point until even his backbenchers were bored stiff.

Cameron will live to fight another day and I agree with Vulture. What on earth will cameron do when the day comes, as it will, when a real crisis hits him.

DavidDP

"No Tory MP or Cabinet Minister or Junior Minister came out in support, lukewarm or otherwise, of Cameron. "

They did in the debate today, not least David Davis.

Cameo Parkway Kid,

Cameron has of course stated that he had no involvement in the process of deciding whether the Government should accept NI's undertakings in lieu of a reference to the Competition Commission. That answers your question rather firmly, as does, in fact, the copious amounts of advice from the OFT and OFCOM regarding NI's offers that DCMS has published, which helpfully demonstrate to those with a genuine interest in whether due process was followed that nothing untoward in the process at all.

mick

all those tory trolls happy to see cameron wriggling out of this present problem should remember that it is his judgement that is in question, how many people are happy with what we are doing to the people of libya

Nicholas Hallam

... and now Tom Watson's letter has turned out to be entirely innocuous, and certainly not embarrassing enough to Cameron to explain the author's smugness.

Chris lancashire

Know what you mean Mick - felt the same way about Iraq.

ButcombeMan

He may just have scraped by. For now.

He should never have touched Coulson with a barge pole, that is just simple fact so dargging out his getting round to an apology has not been clever.

When he first had to respond on the Coulson issue he should not have used the word "hindsight", he should have said "on reflection etc",

When asked if he had a conversation which mentioned BSB he should have said "Of course it has been mentioned en passant, but for my part I have made sure I have never had an inappropritae conversation and as the house is aware I have removed myself from the descision making process etc.

Cameron needs an adviser who can coach him in how to handle these things.

mick

with hindsight which seems to be the inword,how many voters regret voting for cameron and his boot boy clegg

Perry the Hard Hearted

He doesn't pass my test!

Tankus

Apparently Watson did receive a reply from number 10 two weeks later..details in the telegraph
http://tinyurl.com/4ygqo5d
Coulsons just a side show

smell the glove

Guys and girls, world bank collapse v coulson, get a grip!