A couple of years ago the
News of the Screws…er…
News of the World lost two reporters to jail when they were convicted of illegally hacking into the voicemail messages of various people, including senior members of the Royal Family. The then-editor, Andy Coulson, although he stated that he knew nothing of the hacking, took responsibility and resigned. Story over.
The story has been reignited recently as various political figures, including the recently-ennobled Lord Prescott (who was Deputy Prime Minister under Tony Blair), have asked the Metropolitan Police to confirm whether or not their mobile phones were similarly hacked. The Met has, so far, stalled in providing information to these people. The noble lord has now said that if he doesn't get a satisfactory answer he'll ask a judge to review the information.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, a former reporter on the
News of the World has stated that Andy Coulson actually encouraged him to illegally tap into people's voicemail messages.
You ask: Why is this convulsing the country right at the moment, when economic and political upheaval threatens the jobs and the life of our country?
Because the Director of Communications for the Prime Minister, David Cameron, is one, er, Andy Coulson.
Downing Street is saying that Andy Coulson is "going nowhere"—a phrase that could be taken two ways, of course. I believe they mean that he will not be resigning. Unfortunately, this story is going to go on and on until, inevitably, Coulson is forced to resign under a cloud, whether anything is proven against him or not.
Interestingly, the New York Times, in the Magazine,
printed a very long exposé of the entire affair. That article seems to highlight that Princes William and Harry, or their aides, or both, were victims of the voicemail hacks. This was the original story months ago here. The emphasis has now shifted to non-royal victims.
In not acting quickly to ensure that Coulson is cleared, Downing Street today, like Downing Street was in the case of Alistair Campbell, accused of "sexing up" the Iraq intelligence dossier leading up to the invasion in 2003, is making a terrible mistake for which they will pay dearly. That situation ended up with the suicide of one of the analysts involved in the dossier and a full public enquiry into the affair, with the inquest on the analyst due to be reopened shortly as well.
The first law of Public Relations is this:
When the PR firm or PR Director becomes the story, sack them. There is enough circumstantial evidence to indicate that something was rotten in Wapping (where the HQ of News International, publisher of the
News of the World, is based). David Cameron, if he knows what's good for him and for the Government, should bring Coulson in and remind him of the first law of PR and give him the choice of resigning or being sacked. Otherwise, Cameron will learn the same lesson that the Labour Government learned over the Iraq dossier: Nothing that the Labour Government later said about Iraq was believed because of Campbell's involvement. Campbell resigned after the 2005 election but was rumoured to have been brought in clandestinely by Gordon Brown to try to save the Labour Government in the election earlier this year.
So, Prime Minister, please remember the First Law of PR and ensure that Coulson is gone within the week. Otherwise, he'll be gone eventually and the Government will be weakened at a time when it needs its full strength to deal with the economic and social problems that beset Britain today.
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