Saturday, June 30, 2012

#Leveson: #BBC - Who Pulls The Strings ?

BIAS AND THE BBC

The BBC should be an important voice, not least because we, the people own it- and its users, ( so that’s us again) – fund it. We would hope to be able to trust it to provide quality educational material and to keep us informed about what is happening in the world, and honest and accurate reporting.

Today, rather than report on Ed Miliband’s letter to the House of Lords about the Health Bill, the BBC bombards us with articles about the Falklands, Syria and disgruntled Christians.
So what is happening at the BBC? We are kept well informed about the goings-on in the Falkland Islands. Is that a co-incidence in that as I remember it was the flag-waving and cheering of the departing ships, which led to a recovery for Margaret Thatcher in 1982 when the public-service cuts were hitting hard?

The BBC inform us of the coming-and-goings of managers of football clubs, and then about complaints from Christians about being marginalised. I am unsure as to why the BBC should be a voice for religious groups – isn’t that what churches are for?

While all this is going on, the most unpopular policies in recent years go unreported by the BBC, and by much of the Press.....read more


http://think-left.org/2012/02/11/who-pulls-the-strings-at-the-bbc/

Friday, June 29, 2012

#Leveson : #Greece - #BBC Deliberate Media Manipulation To Sway Public Opinion.

#Leveson's Unfinished Business - Module 3.

By: John Charles Dyer, UK Correspondent 

27 June 2012.  Testimony in “Module 3” of the Leveson Inquiry is due to end this week.    
In July the Inquiry will move on from its Module 3 focus on the relationship between the press and politicians. The focus of Module 4 will be how to fix the mess.  
Module 3 surfaced some of the most disturbing revelations yet. But, inevitably, leaving behind the relationship of the press and politicians also leaves loose ends. ...read more

http://whirledview.typepad.com/whirledview/2012/06/levesons-unfinished-business.html

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

The Leveson Inquiry : Conclusions - Module 4 And The Dodgy Core Participants.

Did we really expect any other outcome where freemasons are concerned?

Freemason Leveson invited to waste tax payers money because he was a good friend of Cameron's and Murdoch's...The charade ended as it had begun protecting two criminals and a fraudulent fund now so corrupt that ALL three are above the law ...the McCanns.

Module 4 Core Participants.

1) Hugh Grant - Who objected to being exposed shagging a prostitutre.

2) Gerry McCann - May have murdered his own daughter - British profiler Lee Rainbow said 'McCann must be investigated we may be looking at a homicide'....Leveson has no interest in  the Portuguese investigation and the damning results that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt the McCann's are indeed involved in the disappearance of their daughter.

3) Bob Dowler : Milly Dowlers father  - His interests certainly may have played a role in Milly's death...however, they did not . BUT unlike the McCann's he was not granted such protection from the media...The McCann paedophile connection still slapped to this day under a superinjunction . Madeleine may have been raped and murdered by a member of her holiday  group, there is certainly enough evidence in the police files to suggest this was a possibilty for there is not a shred of evidence an abduction took place......

Freemason connections like the murder of Daniel Morgan cover up such unpleasantness.

4)Max Mosley : I leave you to draw your own conclusions...


http://jillhavern.forumotion.net/t5225p10-it-s-official-mccanns-will-also-be-core-particpants-in-module-4-of-the-leveson-enquiry

http://jillhavern.forumotion.net/t5219p20-any-new-press-regulation-must-satisfy-the-mccanns-financial-times

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Leveson: Guardian's Hacker David Leigh Tries To Defend His Pathetic Backside !


The phone hacking scandal has been a farce from beginning to end. Freemason Leveson has kissed the hem of war criminal Tony Blair .  The Guardians phonehacker David Leigh when not stabbing Julian Assange in the back believes he is above the law. The McCanns who are still the ONLY suspects in the disappearnce of their daughter have been given the right by Leveson to decide what is and what is not to be published in Britains gutter mainstream media.

The real victims who will never see justice are Daniel Morgan and Maddie McCann because those in power choose not  to open that can of worms, too many corrupt heads would roll. So Maddie will remain in her shallow watery unmarked grave along with the blessing of Freemason Leveson her parents fraudulent fund may continue. Daniel Morgan's mum will die without justice for her son though Dan's brother Al, will fight on...until the day he can fight no more!



http://order-order.com/2012/06/26/phonehacker-david-leigh-pleads-ignorance-of-the-law/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+guidofawkes+%28Guy+Fawkes%27+blog+of+parliamentary+plots%2C+rumours+and+conspiracy%29

Monday, June 18, 2012

Leveson:Iraq - The Downing Street Memos And Documented War Crimes In Iraq Performed By The West.

http://downingstreetmemo.com/related.html

The U.S. used Napalm In Fallujah

http://www.countercurrents.org/iraq-whitney021204.htm

http://www.albasrah.net/warcrimes.htm

Blair is being pressed by furious MP’s to clarify whether or not he knew that the “banned weapon” was being used. He is also being asked to withdraw British troops if the US continues its use of napalm. As of this writing, Blair’s response remains unknown.


Birth defects such as these are the results of nepalm. The birth defects in Fallujah are horrific. Google it....

 

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Leveson: Murdoch's SUN Refuse To Cover Paedophile Story Due To Paedophile Allegations High Up In Scottish Government.



Uploaded by on 20 Feb 2012
The Lou Collins Radio Show : February 20th 2012

This week on The Lou Collins Radio Show, Lou speaks with Brian Gerrish from UK Column in regards to the recent arrest of Robert Green for the vicious crime of attempting to hand out leaflets.

Lou and Brian also speak with Ian Puddick about his continued fight against corruption and abuse of police resources.

The Lou Collins Radio Show airs each Monday at 11am GMT on Soundart Radio, 102.5FM Totnes and Online at
http://www.soundartradio.org.uk/

Leveson : News Corp Documentary Glorifying George Bush - The Producer Was Not Interested In the 'Facts'

Quote

I expect we'll see more of this over at Fox "News" and at their sister channel Fox Business as well as the ten year anniversary of 9-11 draws closer, but I wonder how many unsuspecting viewers who tune into News Corporation's National Geographic Channel will realize that what they're watching has been brought to them by the owner of the Fox Republican propaganda networks, Rupert Murdoch.
The segment above is a preview available right now on their web site here -- George W. Bush: The 9/11 Interview.
Here's more from Think Progress -- News Corp Set To Air 9/11 Documentary Glorifying Bush; Producer Says He’s Not Interested In ‘Facts’:
After spending over a decade promoting President Bush, the PATRIOT Act, and the Iraq War, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation appears to be up to the same tricks, this time with an hour-long promotional video about Bush’s leadership during the 9/11 attacks. Although News Corp. is perhaps best known for its Bush cheerleading through its Fox News subsidiary, the Bush documentary is airing on another News Corp. company with a better brand image, National Geographic.
The documentary has not aired yet, but is scheduled to come out a few days before the 10-year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Early reviews of the program, however, paint Bush as a hero who discarded politics and his right-wing agenda once the planes hit the towers. The film also depicts Bush as a leader bent on capturing Osama bin Laden, no matter what. [...]
In reality, within hours of the 9/11 plane hijackings, Bush’s Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld began drawing up plans to launch a war in Iraq “even though there was no evidence linking Saddam Hussein to the attacks.” Indeed, Bush aides quickly went to work undercutting the proposed commission to study the events leading up the 9/11, and despite the growing evidence linking the terrorist act with Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda group, Bush never made bin Laden a priority. By January 2002, Dick Cheney told the press that bin Laden “isn’t that big a threat.” The next month, Bush said bin Laden was “not the issue.”
Will producer Peter Schnall critically, and accurately, explain to the public Bush’s actions during and after the horrific 9/11 terrorist attacks? In a recent interview about the program, Schnall said he tried not to push “it too far” with the former president, and that he was “less interested in facts than how” Bush “was feeling”. Read on...

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/news-corps-national-geographic-channel-set

#Leveson: Jeremy Hunt - Government lawyer who let Jeremy Hunt rule on Murdoch bid for BSkyB is knighted - Telegraph

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Piers Morgan: The INSIDER Is A Sordid Tale Of Grovelling And Dirty Tricks By Piers Morgan.

Morgan with his News Corp mafia pals
The Insider by Piers Morgan is more than his magnum opus on the press, it’s a damning indictment a wiser man would never have put into print.

The objective of this piece is the study of Morgan’s revelations about the press that have come back to haunt him as a result of Hackgate and the Leveson inquiry.

Had Louise Mensch MP done her job properly last year and studied the text in depth, she would not have handed Morgan an undeserved apology.

The following list could almost have been read to Morgan by the ghost of Christmas past…
Monday, 24 January 2000, pages 250-1:

‘Had lunch with the boss of MI5 today, Stephen Lander, at his HQ on the Embankment. I knew from his cuttings that he was one of the key intelligence figures in successfully foiling a string of IRA attacks in recent years, which is why he’s now got the job. He was very matter-of-fact about what his organisation does.

“Look, forget all the myths and James Bond tales. We are a disciplined intelligence agency, and our job is not to go around assassinating people or tapping everyone’s phones illegally. Our main job is to find out what bad people are up to and prevent them doing it.”

I asked who the biggest threat to Britain was. “France,” he replied, to my astonishment.
“They have some very dangerous terrorists, mainly of Algerian descent, and given the proximity to our border they represent a very serious and present danger. But there are many other terrorist organisations out there, and we have to keep tabs on all of them.”

“Do you keep tabs on people like me, then?”

He laughed. “Piers, I could read all of your emails this afternoon if I wanted to.”

I think he was joking, I hope he was! I felt a bit safer after lunch than I had before, knowing someone like him is running MI5.’

Morgan’s child-like deference to Lander is nauseating. Morgan is either grovelling to the powerful, or intimidating those less powerful. There is no middle ground with the lead clown of the CNN roadshow.

image

But what Morgan failed to tell us in his book was the fact that his underling Oonagh Blackman had already developed “supervisory sources” at MI5 and the Met Police, who ‘supervised’ her output. Assisted journalism, a cancer that lead to the manifest symptoms of Operation Motorman and the Hackgate scandal.

But Morgan’s meeting with the DG of MI5 is an important confession and one that destroys other lies pushed by the press. Namely, Peter Hill, former editor of the Daily Express, who told me in 2003 that newspaper editors have no connection with MI5 and MI6....read more


http://newsallianceuk.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/the-insider-is-a-sordid-tale-of-grovelling-and-dirty-tricks-by-piers-morgan/

#Leveson: #Cameron Is A Criminal It Is As Simple As That.

#Leveson: #Cameron 'I Don't Recall' - When It Comes To The British Government Covering Up For The McCanns Who Are Clearly Involved In The Disappearance Of Their Daughter - Isn't It Amazing How They ALL Suffer With Memory Loss.



David Cameron's memory appeared to fail him as he gave evidence to the Leveson Inquiry.


(Clockwise from top left) James Murdoch, Prime Minister David Cameron, Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson


By Matthew Holehouse

2:32PM BST 14 Jun 2012

On being a special adviser


Jay: In your dealings with third parties, to what extent, if ever, did you offer an opinion which was not the opinion of your minister, without making it clear that it wasn't?

Cameron: Well, it's quite a long time ago, so it's hard to remember all the interactions I had... On occasions I'm sure I would have made clear to people my own view about something, but I can't think of particular instances.


Did he discuss the Information Commissioner's report on unlawful data access at dinner with Paul Dacre, the Daily Mail editor, in 2006?


Cameron: I don't remember, I'm afraid. I can't even remember where the dinner was. I think also he's had dinner in my home as well. The trouble with that one is I can't remember where it was, let alone what we talked about.


On meeting Matthew Freud and Rebekah Brooks on Rupert Murdoch's yacht in Santorini


Cameron: My memory is it came together quite quickly. I seem to remember I was on some tour day around the country. I got a call or a text from Matthew. I was just about to go off to Georgia, to visit Georgia at the time of the Russian invasion, and it just seemed like a possible opportunity to link up and - but I seem to remember it all came together very quickly at the last minute. But I might have got it wrong.

Jay: We know that Rebekah Wade was there, but did you have a conversation with her about this before you flew out or not?

Cameron: I don't recall that, I'm afraid.

On lunch with James Murdoch in 2009

Jay: Would you think it's possible on that occasion that you discussed regulatory issues, including Ofcom and the BBC?

Cameron: Well, I don't recall what was discussed directly at the lunch. I'm sure that over the years I've discussed some of those issues with James Murdoch. He has very strong views on them, I have very strong views, they're not really the same views, and I'm sure we would have had discussions about it. Perhaps particularly -- well, I think probably on both. I don't recall the specifics, but I'm sure we must have discussed our views.

Jay: This was a few months before his MacTaggart lecture, which was delivered in late August 2009. Did you have any discussions with him about the subject matter of that lecture, either before he gave it or afterwards?

Cameron: Not to my memory, no. I think these would have been... you know, as I say, most of these meetings were really about me trying to promote Conservative policy, the Conservative approach and the rest of it, but sometimes because I'm interested in media issues and have longstanding views on them, sometimes I'm sure we would have discussed them.

On lunch with Sun editor Dominic Mohan in 2009

Jay: Do you think on that occasion the issue of support of the Sun for you and your party was discussed or not?

Cameron: I wouldn't -- I don't recall. By this stage obviously I was making arguments that Sun readers were coming over to the Conservatives and our approach was what the country needed and all the rest of it, but I don't remember the specifics of that conversation, no.

On dinner with James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks in 2009, following a drink with James Murdoch at which he said the Sun would back Cameron.

Jay: Can you remember anything about where the political issues, perhaps regulatory issues were discussed on that occasion?

Cameron: I don't particularly recall what was discussed then, no.

Jay: But for support the upcoming support of the Sun is likely to have been mentioned, isn't it?

Cameron: Yes. I think I'm trying to remember the exact date of the Labour conference.

Jay: I think we're onto about 27 or 28 September.

Cameron: Right. I expect that would have been discussed. In terms of what the Sun was going to do, it was - but I don't... I remember the drink, I remember what he said about the Sun supporting the Conservatives. I don't particularly remember the dinner.

Jay: Rightly or wrongly, the Sun had timed it for maximum political damage to Mr Brown's government, that goes without saying. It seems at least plausible again that that sort of point was discussed on this occasion. Would you agree?

Cameron: As I say, I recall the drink, I don't recall the dinner.

On meeting Rupert Murdoch in December 2009

Jay: Can you remember anything about that conversation, particularly about the change of support?

Cameron: Not particularly. I mean, in most of my lunches or breakfasts with Rupert Murdoch, the conversation has always been predominantly about economic issues, security geo-political issues, he was very interested in what was happening in Afghanistan, very interested in global markets.

On when Cameron realised Rebekah Brooks backed the Tories

Jay: When did you think Mrs Brooks was on onside? Six months, a year?

Cameron: I would have to go through my diary and try and remember the... but I can't give you a date.

Jay: Not even a sense of when it might have been? Was it months, was it weeks, was it years?

Cameron: I don't want to get it wrong. It certainly wasn't weeks. It was I think more than that. But I can't really give you any more than that.
Did Rekebah Brooks ask Cameron to open a police review into the Maddie McCann case?

Jay: Were you asked by Mrs Brooks to support or indeed cause to take place a review of the McCann case within the Metropolitan Police?

Cameron: I don't recall the exact provenance of this whole issue. What I remember is that I had a meeting with Kate and Gerry McCann as Leader of the Opposition, and anyone who's met them or obviously read about the story, you can't fail to be incredibly moved by what has happened to them and all the efforts they've made to try and get Madeleine back, and I followed this up as Prime Minister, but I can't remember the exact provenance of who called who and when, and what have you, but I think it was... the police clearly had played a role in trying to keep the investigation going, and the Government has helped them with that.

Jay: But in terms of any interaction between you and Mrs Brooks, was it drawn to your attention that Mrs Brooks went to see two of your special advisers, I think on 11 May?

Cameron: I don't recall. It might well have been. I don't recall the exact conversations.
About hiring Andy Coulson, and what they asked him about phone hacking

Jay: Mr Osborne's evidence was that he asked for and obtained assurances. Were you aware of that?

Cameron: I don't recall, but if George says that, I have no reason to doubt it.

...

Jay: You say that you are sure that you would have discussed his appointment with Rebekah Wade. To be clear, by this time, it's May 2007, would you have counted her as amongst your friends?

Cameron: Yes. I think I would. As I say in the evidence, I can't recall when I discussed it with her, whether it was before, during or after, but I'm sure I would have at some stage had a conversation with her about it.

Jay: Can you remember how many conversations?

Cameron: No

...

Jay: Sometimes discussions of these nature go into people's character and integrity. Do you think you had a discussion along those lines with Mrs Brooks about Mr Coulson?

Cameron: I'm afraid I don't... I don't recall. But I think the most important thing I would have wanted to know is would he be good at the job.

Did David Cameron ask Andy Coulson about phone hacking by phone while on holiday in Cornwall, or in person at his office in Westminster, or both?

Cameron: My recollection is that I raised the issue of phone hacking and sought the assurance in the face-to-face meeting we had in my office. That's my recollection. I vaguely remember the further telephone call, but that's - I've obviously racked my brains to try and remember exactly the sequencing, but my recollection is that I knew it was very important that I needed to ask hinm that question, and therefore did so, as it says in my evidence...

...

When did Andy Coulson repeat his assurances about phone hacking?

Jay: And to be clear, the repetition of the assurance, was it sought in a face-to-face meeting or phone call or by some other means?

Cameron: To the best of my recollection, although it's very difficult to do the specifics on this, the best of my recollection it was because of the impending Select Committee hearing, and I think... obviously the embarrassment there was that he was being taken through a Select Committee hearing while he was working for me, and it was in that context that I think we had this discussion.

Jay: I'm sure it was in that context, but just the means of communication.

Cameron: I don't recall.

Jay: Call him into your office, phone call, can you recall?

Cameron: I don't recall.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/leveson-inquiry/9331190/I-dont-recall-David-Cameron-and-his-foggy-memory-at-the-Leveson-Inquiry.html
 

#Leveson: Cameron Under Oath ! Watch and Listen To Him Lie His Way Through The Leveson Inquiry.

#Leveson: Cameron LIVE Blog - Watch Him Take An Oath And Then Lie .

#Leveson: Operation Elveden - Three Arrests.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18437432

A former prison officer is among three people arrested by Metropolitan Police officers investigating alleged corrupt payments to public officials.

The arrests, made at 0600 BST, are part of Operation Elveden, which is running alongside a probe into phone hacking.

The 40-year-old ex-prison officer was arrested in Corby, Northamptonshire, on suspicion of corruption.

A 37-year-old woman was also arrested in Corby, and a 31-year-old man was arrested in Croydon, Surrey.

#Leveson: More Arrests -Detectives in England investigating alleged inappropriate payments made to public officials arrest two men and a woman

More to follow...

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

#Leveson #Pressreform:Clegg and Salmond Links For Todays Evidence.

Rebekah Brooks And Husband Appear In Court.

Former News International chief, husband Charlie and four others are charged with conspiracy to pervert course of justice

, crime correspondent

guardian.co.uk,

Rebekah and Charlie Brooks
Rebekah Brooks and her husband, Charlie, arrive at Westminster magistrates court. Photograph: Paul Hackett/Reuters
The former chief executive of News International, Rebekah Brooks, and her husband, Charlie, have appeared at Westminster magistrates court on charges of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice by allegedly concealing evidence from the police.

Brooks arrived with her husband in a black cab outside the court shortly before 10am. The entrance was flanked with photographers and television crews, and as Brooks was led by police to the doors of the court cameras flashed repeatedly.

Wearing matching navy blue suits – Rebekah Brooks's distinguished by a flash of a sage green scarf and high-heeled black shoes – the couple appeared in court one shortly afterwards, where the benches were filled with lawyers representing the six defendants, the press and a few members of the public.

She was led into the glass-fronted dock with her husband and sat flanked by him on one side and Cheryl Carter, her former personal assistant, on the other.

Alongside Carter sat Paul Edwards, Brooks's former chauffeur, and Mark Hanna, the head of security at News International, and behind the five was Darryl Jorsling, who was a security consultant for Brooks provided by News International.

The former News International chief executive, who has edited both the News of the World and the Sun, was asked to stand by the court clerk along with the five other defendants. The six were asked to give their addresses and dates of birth before being asked to sit.

Brooks is charged with three counts of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice by allegedly hiding material from police investigating phone hacking at the News of the World. The other five defendants face one charge of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Nigel Pilkington for the crown said: "I don't propose to say anything about the facts. The court was served with a summary of the case."

Senior district judge Howard Riddle said he had received the summary and Pilkington read out bail conditions for the five. They were all told not to communicate directly or indirectly with each other – except for Charlie and Rebekah Brooks, on whom no such ban on communication as a couple was imposed. No plea was entered by any of the six.


After a hearing lasting no more than five minutes Riddle addressed the six defendants.
"Could I ask you to stand?" he said. "Your case is sent for trial at Southwark crown court. The first hearing will be on 22 June. You should be there no later than 9.30am.

"You have heard the bail conditions read out … If you don't turn up on time you commit an offence and could lose your bail."

Riddle then adjourned the hearing, stood and walked out. A few minutes later, to shouts from photographers of "Rebekah, Rebekah", a smiling Brooks and her husband walked out of the court – him with his hands in his pockets. They got into a black cab and were driven away.
Brooks is charged on count one that between 6 July and 19 July 2011 she conspired with Charles Brooks, Hanna, Edwards, Jorsling and persons unknown to conceal material from officers of the Metropolitan police service.

On count two she is charged with Carter between 6 July and 9 July 2011 of conspiring together to permanently remove seven boxes of material from the archive of News International. In the third count Brooks is charged with her husband, Hanna, Edwards and Jorsling and persons unknown of conspiring together between 15 July and 19 July 2011 to conceal documents, computers and other electronic equipment from officers of the Metropolitan police service.

The other five defendants face one charge of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice each.

Rebekah Brooks Bailed After Court Appearance.

Former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks, her racehorse trainer husband Charlie and four others were bailed to June 22 when they appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court today on charges linked to the phone hacking scandal.

They spoke only to give their address.

Former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks at Westminster Magistrates Court

Former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks at Westminster Magistrates Court Credit: PA Wire


http://www.itv.com/news/story/2012-06-13/rebekah-brooks-due-in-court/

Leveson: Brooks Arrives In Court To Face Hacking Charges.

The former chief executive of News International arriving at Westminster Magistrates Court

The former chief executive of News International arriving at Westminster Magistrates Court Credit: ITV News



http://www.itv.com/news/update/2012-06-13/rebekah-brooks-arrives-in-court-to-face-hacking-charge/

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Leveson:Seumas Milne - Ownership is the key to the corruption of the media

Murdoch's grip on British politics was the product of corporate control of the press. Ending it is a democratic necessity.


Belle Mellor 1306
Illustration by Belle Mellor
You'd have to be a "real fantasist", George Osborne declared this week, to believe there had been a "vast conspiracy" to hand full control of the satellite broadcaster BSkyB to Rupert Murdoch. David Cameron, who's due to appear before the Leveson inquiry into press standards on Thursday, has said something similar. The Tory culture secretary and "minister for Murdoch" Jeremy Hunt, who lobbied with cringe-making enthusiasm for the takeover, insisted he abandoned all partisanship the moment he was put in charge of adjudicating the bid.

In fact, you would have to be a complete chump to believe the opposite. Crying "conspiracy theory" is a surefire way of putting accusers on the defensive. But agreements and understandings don't need to be explicit to be real, whether in business or politics.

When Tony Blair flew to pay homage to Murdoch's court in 1995, he didn't need to spell out that he'd be dropping Labour's plans to limit cross-media ownership for the tycoon to get the message – any more than the Scottish National party leader, Alex Salmond, had to sign an undertaking that he'd lobby for the BSkyB bid in exchange for support from the Murdoch press.

But any doubt about the scale of collusion, corruption and cover-up between News International, politicians and police a year after the phone-hacking scandal exploded is now strictly for the pathologically credulous, or those actually on the payroll.

Not only has the backdoor lobbying and elite backscratching been laid bare at the inquiry, while Murdoch executives, journalists and police officers have been arrested and charged. But Murdoch's mythology that he has "never asked a prime minister for anything" and leaves editorial policy to his editors has also been mercifully disposed of.

Today John Major recalled that the media baron demanded he change government policy on Europe or his newspapers wouldn't back the Tories at the 1997 general election, while the former Sunday Times editor Harold Evans has described how Murdoch dictated coverage on everything from the economy to foreign policy.

The hearings have thrown a gruesome light on the dalliance between press and politicians, and there are dangers for Cameron in what might still emerge. But as the circus goes on in an atmosphere of deferential chumminess of its own, it shows clear signs of turning into the establishment safety mechanism of many other such inquiries before it.

With Tory leaders making clear their opposition to any statutory role in press regulation, Lord Justice Leveson will struggle to go beyond a slightly more independent body than the patsy Press Complaints Commission, and some redress for victims of media intrusion or misrepresentation. Crucially, there is little chance of his inquiry delivering a significantly more accountable media because, as he said today, he is anxious not to get into the fundamental issue of ownership.

But as the evidence to the inquiry has demonstrated, it's the corporate ownership of the press and media – and News International's dominant share of the market, delivered by Margaret Thatcher and reinforced by Blair – that gave Murdoch his mafia-like grip on politics and shaped the media's reporting of everything from Iraq to financial deregulation.
Which is why Ed Miliband's demand today to set limits to cross-media ownership and the share of the newspaper market controlled by one proprietor (also backed by Major earlier in the day) represents a significant break with two decades of political class deference to the media monopolists. Added to the promotion of different forms of ownership – even more important in the digital era – that would start to widen media freedom and diversity.

Of course, the British press has long been plagued by monstrous proprietors. In recent times, its owners have been particularly noted for their criminality, from Robert Maxwell to Conrad Black; Muslim-baiting and pornography, in the case of Express Newspapers' Richard Desmond; and tax-exiled feudal reclusiveness, in the shape of the Telegraph group's Barclay brothers.

But whereas press barons always tried to influence politics, that extended in recent years to rewriting media regulation in their commercial interests. And when it comes to the content of their papers and websites, the same sort of approach has translated into selling advertisers the right to incorporate their "messages" and "brand themes" into unlabelled news reports.
Corporate corruption of the media has shown itself to be a threat to free expression, as well as democracy. But it's only part of a wider corruption of public life, driven by privatisation above all, that has become ever more corrosive in the years of Murdoch's ascendancy.
That has seen Tony Blair waltz from the premiership into £12m a year's worth of contracts with banks such as JP Morgan that his administration failed to regulate and with autocratic western allies such as Kazakhstan and Kuwait; a revolving door regime that hands ex-ministers and civil servants lucrative jobs in the companies they previously regulated; and 142 peers with financial links to companies involved in private healthcare having the right to vote this year on a health bill that opens the NHS to sweeping privatisation.

Overturning the corporate takeover of official Britain, and the corruption of the media and politics that fuelled it, has now become a democratic necessity.

Leveson: Murdoch-Wade posse crash Independent's office – that's pretty uncool, isn't it?

Rattled News International heavyweights respond to Cleggmania with visit to Simon Kelner's office .

Things are hotting up.

Hours after the traditional British election egg was thrown at David Cameron's shoulder, we learned this morning that James Murdoch and his enforcer, Rebekah Brooks, nee Wade, burst their way into the offices of the Independent to give executives a hard time.

Gosh, that's pretty uncool, and may suggest that expensive suits at News International are rattled by Cleggmania, which could leave them out in the cold if the Tories fail to win on 6 May. What seems to have upset them are ads that the Indy has been running along the lines of "Rupert Murdoch won't decide this election – you will." Brooks apparently rang Simon Kelner, the editor-in-chief and now chief executive of the Indy to complain that dog does not eat dog in Fleet Street.

That means that editors and owners do not attack each other in person – not their politics, their finances or their private lives. Remember the running battle, later patched up, between the Daily Mail and the once-mighty Daily Express over the former's habit of referring (correctly) to Express owner Richard Desmond as a pornographer? That sort of thing.

Anyway, it's fun, not least because Freud Communications did the Indy's redesign.

And who is Matthew Freud married to? Why, to James's less impetuous sister, Elisabeth Murdoch. Small world, eh? Anyway, the Brooks-Murdoch posse turned up at the Indy's HQ – now housed in the Mail's London premises, the old Derry and Toms department store in Kensington High Street, got past security and appeared unannounced and uninvited on the editorial floor. "They barged in and Kelner had to take them into an office where discussions took place. Rebekah was observed in gesticulating mode," says my source. The incident was mentioned on Radio 4's Today programme, where Trevor Kavanagh, a Sun guru, was found to be unbriefed about the whole thing.

Lively times.

As noted here yesterday, and articulated forcefully in this week's Guardian by David Yelland, an ex-Sun editor, the Murdoch empire may be badly caught out if David Cameron does not become prime minister. Don't these people know that I still think he will? Never mind. The "Kill Klegg" bandwagon gathers pace this morning, as we all knew it would. All the day's fresh allegations end up in later editions of the Mail, which has a very efficient news Hoover. Thus: • He is guilty of a "Nazi slur," says the Mail, because in 2002 he wrote on the Guardian website that the British now have more of a problem than the repentant and prosperous Germans because of lingering "delusions of grandeur".

Mike's verdict: Oh p-u-u-l-eeese, if the Mail can't smear him better than that it might as well hand the job over to the usually-inferior Telegraph. • Talking of which, as the Guardian reports, the Telegraph has dug up an odd story about how Lib Dem donors paid regular £250 payments into Clegg's own bank account, apparently to pay a researcher. Clegg says it was all declared. Mike's verdict: That's a bit better than the Mail's yarn. • Among other charges in the Mail today is that Clegg had TV coaching for the big debates; that Lib Dem candidates say nasty things about rival candidates and project different policies to different target audiences; that officials of the party gave their MPs advice on how to maximise expenses claims; that Vince Cable's plan to curb tax avoidance is optimistic according to experts; and that Clegg himself got a bit shirty yesterday.

Mike's verdict: That all sounds like a political party at work to me. The interesting question is whether any of this mud sticks or whether voters decide that it's them, not Rupert Murdoch or the Mail's own editor – Paul Dacre – who decides the election.

Source: The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/blog/2010/apr/22/murdoch-wade-crash-independent

Leveson Inquiry : Witness Statements Now Online (June 12th ) Can't Guarantee They Were Truthful Though Can You ?

Monday, June 11, 2012

The Leveson Liars: Gordon Brown-George Osborne Statements Now Online.

Leveson : George Osborne Statement Now Online.

The Leveson Liars : The Question Should Not Be WHO Has Lied. The Question Should Be Has Anyone Of These Self-Serving Corrupt Idiots Told The Truth. The Answer NO!

Exit: Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown leaves the Leveson Inquiry at the High Court in London after a fiery morning of evidence
Exit: Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown leaves the Leveson Inquiry at the High Court in London after a controversial morning of evidence
An emotional and angry Gordon Brown has accused Rupert Murdoch of lying under oath about claims he had 'declared war' on him when The Sun switched allegiance to the Tories at the last election.
After swearing on the bible himself, he also told the Leveson Inquiry he 'wasn't even stung' when the Sun printed a front page headline 'Labour's lost it' on the day of Mr Brown's key party conference speech.
He added the manner in which they switched sides was 'offensive,' and that he was never 'unhinged', as the media mogul had described in his evidence in late April.
Mr Brown, who has been embroiled in a bitter war of words with the Murdoch empire, today went on the attack, and denied Mr Murdoch's claims he slammed the phone down on him and 'declared war' on his business in a rage following the decision.
The discrepancy in evidence means one of the men appears to have lied under oath. But News Corporation have this afternoon issued a statement saying Mr Murdoch 'stands by his evidence.'
‘This is the conversation that Mr Murdoch says happened between him and me where I threatened him and was unhinged,' Mr Brown said.
‘This conversation never took place. I’m shocked and surprised.'
In direct contrast, during the opening minutes of Mr Murdoch's Leveson Inquiry testimony in late April, Mr Murdoch said the former Prime Minister had 'declared war' and was not in a ‘balanced state of mind’.
SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO
Evidence: Gordon Brown has started giving evidence this morning as he was drawn into the Leveson firestorm
Evidence: Gordon Brown has started giving evidence this morning as he was drawn into the Leveson firestorm
Mr Murdoch told the inquiry: ‘I said, “I’m sorry about that Gordon, thank you for calling”, and that was that. End of subject. I don’t think he was in a very balanced state of mind... I don’t know.
'I said that very carefully, under oath, and I stand by every word of it, he added'

In a torrid appearance before the Leveson inquiry, Mr Brown went on to deny a whole series of claims, including a story about his son's cystic fibrosis was printed in the Sun with his backing.
He also said that News International turned against him in 2008 when in a plan 'breathtaking in its arrogance and its ambition' James Murdoch set out demands that would benefit BSkyB, that Mr Brown was not willing to accept.
'We could not go along with that sort of agenda,' Mr Brown said. 'But while we resisted that we were not supported.
'The Conservative Party supported every one of the recommendations made by the Murdoch group.
‘You can serve up dinner, but you don’t have to serve up BSkyB as part of the dinner.
He added: ‘At no point in my premiership would I ever allow a commercial interest to override the public interest, and I’ve looked at the records of all our ministers in that matter and we would never allow the public interest to be subjugated to the commercial or vested interests of any one company.’
Under oath: Mr Brown has made several sensational claims today in his evidence and denied much of Rupert Murdoch's evidence was true
Under oath: Mr Brown has made several sensational claims today in his evidence and denied much of Rupert Murdoch's evidence was true

Battle: Gordon Brown and Rupert Murdoch have been engaged in an incredible war of words with the former Prime Minister accused of making a 'threatening' phone call to the media mogul when The Sun dropped support for Labour in 2009
Battle: Gordon Brown and Rupert Murdoch have been engaged in an incredible war of words with the former Prime Minister accused of making a 'threatening' phone call to the media mogul when The Sun dropped support for Labour in 2009
Mr Brown also described his hurt at being painted as a Prime Minister that 'did not care' about troops in Afghanistan in Mr Murdoch's newspapers.
He also went on to deny that he had ever authorised any of his inner circle to spin stories that undermined Tony Blair, his greatest political rival.

GORDON BROWN VS RUPERT MURDOCH: WHO DO YOU BELIEVE?

RUPERT MURDOCH, APRIL 24, 2012:  On the alleged phone call, Mr Murdoch claimed Mr Brown said he 'declared war' and he replied:  'I’m sorry about that Gordon, thank you for calling”, and that was that. End of subject. I don’t think he was in a very balanced state of mind.
RUPERT MURDOCH APRIL 25, 2012: 'I said that very carefully yesterday, under oath, and I stand by every word of it.'
GORDON BROWN, JUNE 11, 2012: ‘This is the conversation that Mr Murdoch says happened between him and me where I threatened him and was unhinged,' he said.
‘This conversation never took place. I’m shocked and surprised.'
And he claimed he was hacked by the media in ‘every year’ he was Chancellor of the Exchequer.
He said: ‘Everything personal in your life, your bank or building society account, your medical records, your tax affairs, your lawyer and your accountant.
'In every year I was Chancellor there was either a break in or a breach of these records.
'In most cases I can show that that happened because of intrusion by the media.’
He was also asked whether he agreed with Lord Mandelson's claims that his and Labour's relationship with Rupert Murdoch was too close.
'No I don't actually,' he said.
'The idea that I was influenced in what I did by Mr Murdoch's views is ridiculous'.
'The idea that Mr Murdoch and I had a common bond on policy is simply not correct.
Mr Murdoch 'would probably have had us leave the EU, at war with France and Germany and us as the 51st state of the US,' he added.
Big day: Gordon Brown with his wife Sarah arrive at a rain-soaked Royal Courts of Justice this morning
Big day: Gordon Brown with his wife Sarah arrive at a rain-soaked Royal Courts of Justice this morning

Off to work: Mr and Mrs Brown head into the Leveson Inquiry where the former Prime Minister will be grilled on his dealings with the Murdoch Empire
Off to work: Mr and Mrs Brown head into the Leveson Inquiry where the former Prime Minister will be grilled on his dealings with the Murdoch Empire

HOSPITAL APOLOGISES FOR LEAK OF FRASER'S CYSTIC FIBROSIS

Gordon Brown first accused The Sun of lying about their claims he and his wife told them they could reveal their son Fraser had cystic fibrosis.
Sun claims the story came from another 'shattered dad' whose son had the condition was ‘fiction’, he said.
Fife NHS have since apologised to him because they believe Fraser's medical records were leaked by a member of staff, who may have been paid to do it by The Sun, he said.
In his testimony, Mr Murdoch also attacked Mr Brown for his ‘outrageous’ suggestion that The Sun had hacked medical records to get the story of Mr Brown’s son Fraser being diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.
Rebekah Brooks also told Leveson that she had been given permission to print by the Browns.
'I find it sad that even now in 2012, members of News International were appearing before the inquiry and maintaining this fiction. We cannot learn the lessons without some honesty,' Mr Brown said.
'There was no question of us being willing, complicit or desiring that this information become public.'
And asked why his wife Sarah remained friends with Rebekah Brooks after the episode he said: 'My wife is the most forgiving person I know.'
He said his wife and Rupert Murdoch's wife were also involved in the same charity work.
And his claims have been backed up by the NHS today.
Exit: Gordon Brown, pictured with his wife and boys when he left Downing Street in 2009, says he had tried to protect his children from the media
Exit: Gordon Brown, pictured with his wife and boys when he left Downing Street in 2009, says he had tried to protect his children from the media
John Wilson, chief executive of NHS Fife, said today in a statement: 'Any breach of confidentiality in the NHS is unacceptable. We now accept that it is highly likely that, sometime in 2006, a member of staff in NHS Fife spoke, without authorisation, about the medical condition of Mr Brown's son, Fraser.
'With the passage of time it has not been possible to identify all the circumstances.
'I have apologised to Mr and Mrs Brown and we have taken steps to ensure that what happened to Mr and Mrs Brown and their family should not happen again.'
Mr Brown said a Sun journalist had told his press office that the newspaper had a story about his son's condition which it was going to publish.
He said he and his wife had had to deal with the problem of detail of a medical condition being reported when his daughter had died and wanted to 'minimise' damage.
Mr Brown said no 'parent in the land' would want such detail of a child's illness to be published in a tabloid newspaper.
He added: 'There is nothing you can do other than try to limit the damage.'
Mr Brown denied 'absolutely' that he or his wife had given The Sun 'consent' to publish.
He said he had tried - through the Press Complaints Commission - to get editors of major newspapers to agree on limits of coverage about his children.

'We didn't want our children to grow up thinking somehow they were minor celebrities,' he said. 'We wanted our children to grow up as ordinary young kids.'

BROWN ON BRIEFING AGAINST BLAIR

Denial: Gordon Brown told the Inquiry that he never briefed against Tony Blair
Denial: Gordon Brown told the Inquiry that he never briefed against Tony Blair
It has long been claimed that Gordon Brown and his team of special advisers and press team had briefed journalists against his rival Tony Blair to try to get the Prime Minister's job.
But he used the Inquiry to deny this ever happened.
Mr Brown said there was 'no evidence' that his aides briefed against Tony Blair or used press to try to force him to resign.
When asked were your aides involved he said: 'I would hope not. I have got no evidence of that. If they did so, it was without my authorisation.’

THEY SAID 'I DIDN'T CARE' ABOUT TROOPS: BROWN ON AFGHANISTAN

Mr Brown singled out The Sun for the way it had portrayed him on a number of occasions in relation to Afghanistan.
In one instance it said he had fallen asleep at a memorial for troops and claimed it was another example showing he did not care about the British forces.
'There's a story you fell asleep but you were praying and The Sun decides this is an example of someone falling asleep and dishonouring the troops,' he said.
Mr Brown also raised a story published by the newspaper in 2009 after he misspelled a dead soldier's name in a hand-written letter of condolence to the victim's grieving mother.
Angry: Then PM Gordon Brown arrives at the Showal forward operating base in Lashkar Gah, southern Afghanistan in 2010, and attacked the Sun on its coverage on the issue
Angry: Then PM Gordon Brown arrives at the Showal forward operating base in Lashkar Gah, southern Afghanistan in 2010, and attacked the Sun on its coverage on the issue
Jacqui Janes accused the former PM of being 'disrespectful' because the message began 'Dear Mrs James' and appeared to contain other spelling errors and a visible correction to her son Jamie's name. The 20-year-old Grenadier Guardsman was killed by an explosion on October 5.
Mr Brown has suffered with eyesight problems since a rugby accident in his youth.
He was reported at the time to have telephoned media mogul Rupert Murdoch directly to complain about the coverage he was receiving.
Mr Brown said the letter was used to show he had a lack of empathy, adding 'and it goes on and on'.
But The Sun's political editor, Tom Newton Dunn, hit back at Mr Brown's claims about its coverage of the Afghanistan war, tweeting: 'Fact for Gordon Brown - Sun has printed the word 'Afghanistan' 4,692 times since May 2010.'
He also tweeted: 'Military loathed Brown because they felt he didn't care about them. Sun reported that, but Gordon rewrites history to shoot the messenger.'
With his wife Sarah beside him for support, Gordon Brown arrived at the Leveson Inquiry this morning to have a say in his war of words with Rupert Murdoch.
Cosy relationship: Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah with Rupert Murdoch and his wife Wendi shortly after Mr Brown became Prime Minister in 2007
Cosy relationship: Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah with Rupert Murdoch and his wife Wendi shortly after Mr Brown became Prime Minister in 2007, but their relationship eventually turned sour

SARAH BROWN'S TWEETS FROM LEVESON

10.am: Gordon has just gone up to court room ready to present his evidence to Mr Jay #leveson
9.30am: Personally I am delighted that I did not go flying on the slippery, wet court steps on arrival #leveson #highheels
9.25am: Arrived at Royal Courts of Justice with Gordon - everyone here very relaxed and ready to go #leveson
8am: Landed in London to pouring rain - glad we have plans for a morning indoors then!
As his evidence was about to start Sarah Brown tweeted: 'Arrived at Royal Courts of Justice with Gordon - everyone here very relaxed and ready to go.
And in reference to the dreadful June weather she added: 'Personally I am delighted that I did not go flying on the slippery, wet court steps on arrival.'
On a highly-anticipated day of evidence, Chancellor George Osborne will follow the former Prime Minister into the dock at the Royal Courts of Justice.
But it is Mr Brown, who left Downing Street two years ago and has been rarely seen since, who will take centre stage as he speaks out about his dealings and now infamous exchanges with Mr Murdoch. 
Big smile: Rupert Murdoch is driven away with his wife Wendi after giving evidence to the Leveson Inquiry at the High Court in central London yesterday
Big smile: Rupert Murdoch is driven away with his wife Wendi after giving evidence to the Leveson Inquiry in April. Wendi went to a Pyjama party at Chequers with Sarah Brown

LORD LEVESON: 'I WILL NOT GET DRAWN INTO PARTY POLITICS'

The judge chairing the inquiry into press ethics said today that it was 'essential' that cross-party political support for his investigation was 'not jeopardised'.
Lord Justice Leveson said the 'politics of personality' and any impact inquiry evidence might have on current political issues was not his focus.
The judge told the Leveson Inquiry in London that nothing he said or did was intended to limit any investigation by Parliament.
He was speaking prior to hearing evidence from former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown.
'The purpose of the inquiry is not to challenge the present Government or the decisions taken in the recent past but to look at the much wider sweep of history, across party political boundaries,' said Lord Justice Leveson, a Court of Appeal judge.
'To the extent that there are political questions that Parliament wishes to investigate, I repeat that nothing I say or do is intended to limit or prevent that investigation taking place.'
He said failure to address the 'impact of press behaviour' or the 'consequence of press interests' was not confined to one government or one political party.
The judge added: 'For that reason, it remains essential that cross-party support for this inquiry is not jeopardised.
'It may be more interesting for some to report this inquiry by reference to the politics or personality or the impact of the evidence on current political issues: that is not my focus.'
The feud between the two men, who were once so close that their wives held a ‘slumber party’ together at Chequers, the Prime Minister’s official residence, escalated in the dying days of the Labour Government.
Mr Murdoch’s allies note that Labour figures close to Mr Brown have since led the pursuit of his empire over the phone-hacking scandal.
Mr Brown was asked about that ‘pyjama party’ held by Mr Brown’s wife Sarah at Chequers which was attended by former Sun editor Rebekah Brooks and Mr Murdoch’s wife Wendi Deng.
‘I think there were just a bunch of women, mainly complaining about their husbands probably,’ Mr Murdoch said of the episode.
Menwhile George Osborne has been ordered to face questions at the Leveson Inquiry today over his role in the Government’s handling of the Murdoch empire’s attempted BskyB takeover.
The Chancellor had been expected to give only a written statement, but the inquiry into Press ethics has asked to cross-examine.
Mr Brown, Mr Osborne and Prime Minister David Cameron lead a heavyweight cast of  witnesses next week, including Sir John Major, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Labour leader Ed Miliband.
Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne will face embarrassing questions about their wining and dining with Murdoch executives, including former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks.
And they will be quizzed about their decision to recruit Andy Coulson, the former News of the World editor, as No 10 communications director after he had resigned from the paper over the phone-hacking scandal.
Senior sources say the Prime Minister will fire a warning shot at Lord Justice Leveson on Thursday, making clear that the Government will not adopt new plans for regulating the Press that stifle freedom of speech.
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne
Under pressure: David Cameron will appear at Leveson next week where he will be forced to explain some of the scandals that have engulfed his Government
Under pressure: Chancellor George Osborne, right, and Prime Minister David Cameron will face a grilling at the Leveson Inquiry this week over their handling of the BSkyB takeover


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2157531/Leveson-Inquiry-Gordon-Brown-says-did-declare-war-phone-threat-Murdoch.html#ixzz1xVAVPRZF