Murdoch's newspaper under investigation in Britain

John Major needs a Laconic page after that.

At the time, I never actually say him as... grey... as Spitting Image portrayed him. He got a bad rap for just being fairly normal, if rather more intelligent than average. Which is weird, when you think that's what people keep telling you they want in a PM.

edited 12th Jun '12 8:51:11 AM by Euodiachloris

...and so, he's now an Elder Statesman; he's been the game a long time, and you know he's given a lot of things some thought, especially this. The Other Wiki says he's an advisor to David Cameron.

All things considered, I'd guess his reputation is on the rise.

He is still a Tory. Enuff said on that one, guv'nor.

No, not enough. Explain.

He's still a Tory, but he's not the bottom of the barrel. Boris Johnson is still a Tory, but he remains one of my favourite politicians.

If you're going to disregard politicians whose parties have done distasteful things you're going to have to restrict yourself to voting for independents.

Indeed. I don't think Major was too bad, really. His party was involved in some nasty stuff, mind.

I think he's a rather alright person. He's pretty nice, and he does have a good, honest worldview that isn't the bog-standard "everyone is peasants" that other Tories have.

Major seems okay, from what I've read. Laying the groundwork for the Northern Irish peace process is a pretty good thing, obviously.

I vaguely remember the man as PM. Realising that Hopey was born the year before the 1997 general election makes me feel old, though.

I was born 13 July 1995!

You're a year off, my friend. I don't constantly mention "so, in my AS Govt & Politics class today we discussed..." for no reason.

The problem is, Labour talked a wonderful talk about caring for the working man, then gave all our money to their rich friends and pretended it would make us safer even when presented with extensive evidence that bollocks would it.

The Tories are honest, Labour are exactly the same but hopeless liars about it all.

Oh, right, you're seventeen this year.

<lazily calculated Hopey's birth year by subtracting 16 from 2012>

Agreed. The Tories even seem to have been taking leaves out of New Labour's book as far as nasty authoritarian streaks go.

Who of course they knew because they went to the same Schools and Universities — similar (if not the same) ones to the Conservatives, no less. Government by Bourgeois Bohemian and Former Teen Rebel, no less. For both parties?

edited 12th Jun '12 3:18:40 PM by Greenmantle

Okay, to tie this back in with the topic at hand, Leveson is reminding us of the worst of all parties. Major was probably the least bad PM we've had in a long time but they're all pretty poo and I hope that Cameron isn't forced out over this or the message becomes that he should have buried the investigation like all the other prime ministers did.

Today: David Cameron: Leveson Inquiry: Rolling news cycle a battle, says PM.

And here is the LIVE feed: David Cameron at Leveson Inquiry

They just raised the question of Coulson.

Top three words of the Leveson Enquiry are "I cannot recall". Cameron's "testimony" is littered with them from what the BBC news were saying.

Cue whitewash when the report is published.

"I cannot recall" is pretty much the incantation for Magic Ward: Perjury Charges. Hard to prove that someone was lying if they say they couldn't remember at the time; we can't probe minds yet.

Note the distinction between Retired PMs and Active ones. They come with knives prepared, armed with definitive statements as far as they are able to. The other dodges around issues that might explode any election hopes like a champ.

edited 14th Jun '12 9:47:01 AM by Euodiachloris

I'd say he did better than Brown, but that's not saying much.

News Corp confirms it is considering split: It's a split between News Corporation's Broadcasting and Publishing (including Newspaper) divisions.

Basically, it's the end of News Corporation as we know it — and if the Newspapers go South far enough, it won't bring down all of Murdoch's Empire.

It’s definite now http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18621949

Phone hacking: Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson face charges: Along with six others. It's not a good week for David Cameron so far...

I don't think Cameron is facing any real threat from Murdoch supporters. So a few sun readers start voting UKIP, big deal.

If anything doesn't this free every mainstream party from having to pander to Murdoch?