James Murdoch’s great advantage today was that he didn’t mind if people came away thinking he was a bit of an idiot. As various members of the Culture, Media and Sport select committee attempted to goad him into saying that he knew about this or that, Murdoch simply pleaded ignorance.
Why was Murdoch ignorant of what was happening in the company of which he was executive chairman? Apparently becase he asked very few questions. Even the obvious ones about what the lawyers had said or why such large settlements were being made seem to have escaped him.
Murdoch was also helped by Tom Watson’s over the top invocation of the mafia. There’s a sense in the Commons tonight that the line, and the attention it has drawn, has helped James Murdoch escape a forensic examination of his answers.
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