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Tuesday

Alex Massie

Suing Twitter for Libel is a Mug’s Game – Spectator Blogs

Rod Liddle asks a question of the kind one frequently sees raised by media types: [W]hy is [Lord McAlpine] not suing Twitter itself? It is not Philip Schofield who the peer is suing, but ITV. Surely, likewise, Twitter needs to take some responsibility for its output? If, unlike broadcasters, it has no legal responsibility for what is put out through its witless conduit, then surely there is less of a responsibility on the people who use it, too? On the face of it this seems a reasonable question. But it doesn’t take long to appreciate that it really isn’t and that, though doubtless well-intentioned, it doesn’t make a heap of

Sunday

Rod Liddle

We need a free press more than ever

I’m a bit late with this, as the book has been out a few days or so. But it’s worth getting hold of Mick Hume’s book about newspapers: There is No Such Thing As A Free Press. It’s very good, a timely defence of freedom of the press at the time of Leveson, but rightly critical too of our manifest failings; our narcissism and laziness and sense of self importance. Here’s Hume at the end of the book in admonishing mode: ‘Journalism should be more humble – and take itself more seriously. We need journalism to recognise that its primary responsibility is to report and reflect the world, not to

Tuesday

Tuesday

Peter Robins

Also not found in Essex: the worst lion headline ever – Spectator blogs

In honour of the Essex lion, which seems now to have passed into legend, here is another urban myth. This one is subeditorial. It concerns what was said to be the worst headline ever published in one of the regional newspapers where I was a trainee. Since I’m presenting it in its pure mythic form, as passed from subeditor to subeditor without contamination by fact-checking or archive searches, I am not going to name the newspaper in question. I was told the story in the early 2000s. It happened in the 1970s – recently enough that some of the paper’s subs could claim to have been there (though no one

Wednesday

Alex Massie

Tom Watson’s Strange Sheridan Obsession

I see that, following Andy Coulson’s detention as part of a police investigation into perjury at the Tommy Sheridan, er, perjury trial,  Tom Watson MP is up to his old tricks. To wit: After the detention of Coulson, Tom Watson MP reiterated his claim that Sheridan’s perjury conviction was “unsound”. He said: “Tommy Sheridan was convicted on an eight to six verdict of a jury in a Scottish court. Mr Sheridan lost his liberty and is still the subject of restrictions on his movement. “The detention of Andy Coulson further highlights why Mr Sheridan’s conviction was unsound. It is now abundantly clear that members of the jury were not in

Monday

James Forsyth

The return of the Tony Blair Show

The Tony Blair Show was back in town today. The former Prime Minister was clearly less nervous in front of this inquiry than he was in front of Chilcot; there was little of the passion and intensity in his voice that there was that day as he defended his decision to take the country to war. But Iraq, again, provided the most memorable moment of his appearance so far as a protestor burst into the courtroom and accused him of being a ‘war criminal’. (The ease with which security was breached both in Parliament for Murdoch’s select committee appearance and today at Leveson is something that should worry us more

Wednesday

Alex Massie

Villains of the Financial Crisis? Neoconservatives, of course…

Fulminating against the government’s economic policies, the Observer complained recently that: For a generation, business and finance, cheered on by US neoconservatives and free market fundamentalists, have argued that the less capitalism is governed, regulated and shaped by the state, the better it works. Markets do everything best – managing business and systemic risk, innovating, investing, organising executive reward – without the intervention of the supposed dead hand of the state and without any acknowledgement of wider social obligations. Gosh, is there nothing that can’t be blamed on those dastardly neoconservatives? I suppose the term has now been detached from its original meaning and is instead a catch-all label for

Monday

James Forsyth

Boris keeps on charming his party

Not since Michael Heseltine has there been a politician who is so adept at finding the g-spot of the Tory faithful as Boris Johnson. His column today in the Telegraph is a classic example of this. There’s some witty and perceptive BBC bashing, mockery of the Lib Dems and their priorities, and a demand that the Tories get what they need out of the coalition. His line ‘If we are really going ahead with Lords reform (why?)’ sums up Tory feelings on the subject far better than more earnest tracts have done. ConservativeHome is certainly impressed, saying that the Mayor of London is ‘real and raw in an age when

Wednesday

Alex Massie

Weak, Weak, Weak: Cameron’s Brooks Affair Will Haunt Him.

The public is not, I suspect, nearly as bothered by or interested in the Leveson Inquiry as some editors think. Nevertheless it is not just a Guardianesque enthusiasm. And even if voters dn’t much care for it, Leveson inevitably colours how the professional press views the government. With Andy Coulsen giving evidence tomorrow and Rebekah Brooks appearing on Friday you could argue that this was a bad week to try and have a government relaunch. Worse still, it looks as though the Prime Minister is going to be humiliated. This is not good. Then again, nor is this: David Cameron privately sent Rebekah Brooks a message of support as his

Wednesday

Alex Massie

Did Cameron Text Rebekah Brooks 12 Times A Day?

The Prime Minister’s supporters will hope that this detail in Peter Oborne’s column today is not true: A fresh embarrassment concerns Rebekah Brooks, who providentially retained the text messages she received from the Prime Minister, which I’m told could exceed a dozen a day. These may now be published, a horrible thought. Now “I’m told” and “could” allow for some doubt. But the quantity of texts zipping between Ms Brooks and Mr Cameron is not the only problem, so too is their frequency. I cannot think the Prime Minister’s reputation will be enhanced by the disclosure that he was in contact with Ms Brooks almost every day. Indeed, if what

Tuesday

James Forsyth

The political effects of all this hacking talk

I doubt that many votes will be moved by the split report on hacking of the Culture, Media and Sport select committee. This is not a subject that sets the public’s pulse racing. But all this hacking talk does create political problems for David Cameron. First, it obscures his attempt to talk about other things that matter more to the electorate. This was rather summed up yesterday when the News at Ten led on him facing questions in parliament about Jeremy Hunt rather than the speech he had had to cancel about the economy. This is a particular problem given that the next six weeks at least are going to

Peter Hoskin

MPs squabble over their own phone hacking report

The education select committee reported earlier, but it is the report of another select committee that will get all the attention today. The culture, media and sport select committee has just delivered its verdict on the phone hacking scandal, naming names and apportioning blame — or at least in theory it has. In practice, ‘its verdict’ may be stretching it a bit. During the press conference just now, the individual members of the committee could barely put up a united front at all. There are the parts of the report that they all agree upon: that the former News International employees Les Hinton, Tom Crone and Colin Myler misled the

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Amarillo Slim, 1928-2012

From one great Texan to another: Amarillo Slim, giant of poker and peddler of western wisecracks, has died. Now that poker is a mainstream entertainment, you have to do some brain-cudgeling to recall the era when it seemed distant and exotic and even attractively seedy. All that has gone the way of all flesh now that you can, should you be up all night, watch poker on television every day of the week. Poker players, these days, are ordinary guys who can come from anywhere. The game has become a corporate, branded business and, while this has enriched many people, one kinda feels something has been lost too. In the

Friday

Alex Massie

Is Sir Simon Jenkins the Worst Columnist in Britain?

I know that this must seem a large claim while so many other rotters still breathe but at least, as questions go, it makes more sense than the one bold Sir Simon asks today: Now everyone is connected, is this the death of conversation? Good grief but, being the charitable sort, you may suppose that since Mr Jenkins doesnae write his ain headlines his article may have been mischaracterised by some Guardian sub-editor. Such hopes will not survive for long. Mr Jenkins, you see, has been in the United States and he has noticed, as veteran foreign correspondents are wont to do, that the young people are spending quite a

Wednesday

Peter Hoskin

Murdoch versus Brown

Testimony A, from Rupert Murdoch speaking to the Leveson Inquiry today: ‘Mr Brown did call me and said “Rupert, what do you know, what’s going on here?”, and I said “What do you mean?” and he said “The Sun, what it’s doing and how it came about”. I said I was not aware of the exact timing, but I’m sorry to tell you Gordon that we have come to the conclusion that we will support a change of government when there is an election. He said — and no voices were raised — “Well, your company has declared war on my government and we have no alternative but to make

Tuesday

Alex Massie

Salmond and the Murdochs: Shill, Statesman or Pragmatist?

Further to that last post, Leveson released more than 100 pages of News Corp correspondence this afternoon. Alex Salmond features in four emails sent by Fred Michel, the Murdochs’ chief lobbyist and PR guy: 1. 1/11/10 – Libdem MP, former Sky employee, with major Sky customer centres in his constituency and around will contact Vince Cable to ask himm to bear in mind the economic/investment point of view rather than getting influenced by political games, especially in times of austerity and very difficult economic environment for those areas. He will also emphasise the opportunity for Cable to show the maturity of the Libdems as coalition partners, working for the long-term,

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Groundhog Day at Leveson: Dog Still Bites Man

One thing to be kept in mind as we consider the extent of the government’s links to News International is that it helps explain why neither the Telegraph nor Mail groups are wholly in favour of David Cameron and his ministry. It is, I think, fairly clear that the Conservative leadership was happy to accede to Rupert Murdoch’s attempts to purchase the shares in BSkyB that he did not already own. Following today’s revelations at the Leveson Inquiry, Jeremy Hunt’s jacket now rests upon a super-shoogly peg. Several bookmakers have ceased taking bets on the Culture Secretary being the next minister to leave the cabinet. Even allowing for politicians’ willingness

Thursday

Alex Massie

Today in Stupidity: Salmond is Hitler & the Economist is Racist

David Starkey’s declne from competent historian to reactionary nitwit has been a sad business. I’m afraid it shows no sign of abating either. The Huffington Post has this: Historian Dr David Starkey has compared Scottish first minister Alex Salmond to Nazi German leader Adolf Hitler. “If you think about it, Alex Salmond is a democratic Caledonian Hitler, although some would say Hitler was more democratically elected,” he said. “[For him] the English, like the Jews, are everywhere” he added to gasps from the audience. Starkey was speaking at a debate, hosted by the Bow Group think tank, on the teaching of British history in UK schools. Oh dear. Granted, one

Tuesday

Alex Massie

Skintland: Heads I Win, Tails You Lose

Crivvens, what a stramash there’s been over the cover of the Economist’s UK edition this week. Skintland is a pretty feeble effort, really, and one not entirely supported by the evidence the Economist brings to support its case. Nevertheless, the dismal chippyness of much of the nationalist reaction to this was more offensive than anything any London newspaper could say on the subject of Caledonian indepndence. There was talk, on twitter admittedly, of reporting the Economist to the Race Relations Industry as well as the Press Complaints Commission. The cover illustration was reputed to be grossly offensive (to all Scots, no less) and, worse still, it was said to be

Tuesday

Jonathan Jones

Motorman returns

  Guido Fawkes has caused a stir this morning by releasing a section of the Operation Motorman files, naming those News International journalists thought to have paid for private information. But so far, Guido’s splash tells us little that we didn’t already know: he has lots of information, but has only released the names of News International journalists. Back in July, Peter Oborne wrote a cover piece on the extent of all this for The Spectator entitled ‘What the papers won’t say’, in which he said: ‘The truth is that very few newspapers can declare themselves entirely innocent of buying illegal information from private detectives. A 2006 report by the