[Zippy]

Originally Posted by Omah

Oh dear, you are so set on being personal, that you just can't see the big picture, can you .....

you're the one who needs to look at the bigger picture, love. If you can put the gossip rags down for 2 minutes.

The bigger picture being that he was elected to run the country and not to be distracted or toppled by unsubstantiated accusations. Because him resigning and spending weeks finding a new PM is great for this countries major problems, right?

[Omah]

Originally Posted by joeysteele

Loose Women, who takes any notice of what's said on that programme, it's the worst thing on TV.

I got and would be very bored at the topics they go on about all the time.Politics is life and affects the vast majority of people if not all of them in some way,this is the biggest story in media and politics since the expenses scandal.

I will stick with avidly following the developments of this issue rather than take any notice of the tripe included on the Loose Women show.

Yeah, the issues and ramifications of criminality within the so-called "ruling elite" are getting very near the top of the heap .....

[Omah]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/most-popular...#ixzz1SVeCTxG5

A PANICKED David Cameron was yesterday forced to abandon his trip to Africa as the phone-hacking furore threatened to engulf his administration.

The crisis deepened when the Tory Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, replied “that is a matter for No10” when asked if the PM could resign.

The lack of support from a senior ally came as Mr Cameron was accused of blundering by going to Africa instead of staying in the UK to deal with the crisis and as it emerged that Rebecca Brooks was at his 44th birthday party last October.

Her presence was left off a list of meetings between the PM and media figures published by Downing Street last week, which blamed the omission on “administrative errors”.

The rattled PM decided to abandon the African trade mission after agreeing to Ed Miliband’s demand for an emergency session of Parliament tomorrow.

In a sign of mounting panic, No10 cut the visit from four days to two, then cut it further so he can return this evening instead of Wednesday morning.

Labour leader Ed Miliband piled the pressure on the Premier : “Tomorrow we will have some of the most important select committee hearings in modern times.”

He added: “It is of great concern that the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police was unable to discuss vital issues with the Prime Minister because he felt that David Cameron was compromised on this issue because of Andy Coulson.

“It is also striking that Sir Paul Stephenson has taken responsibility and resigned over the employment of Mr Coulson’s deputy, while the Prime Minister hasn’t even apologised for hiring Mr Coulson.

“We need leadership to get to the truth. But David Cameron is hamstrung by his own decisions and his unwillingness to face them.”

Some of these “administrative errors” are a bit fortuitous .....

[Omah]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...s-2315876.html

Downing Street's attempt to get on top of the scandal on Friday by publishing a full list of contacts between Mr Cameron and senior News International executives had to be revised yesterday after it emerged that they had left off a key social meeting between the Prime Minister and Ms Brooks.

The list revealed that Mr Cameron had met Ms Brooks four times since he became Prime Minister – but officials said yesterday the birthday party was not on the list because it had only just been recalled that she was present.

Yeah, with flame-red hair, she's a bit of a wall-flower .....

[Omah]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14193124

1040:

Bookmakers William Hill are offering odds of 16/1 about "under pressure" PM David Cameron being out of office by the weekend.

1041:

London Mayor Boris Johnson, at 4/1, is favourite to replace him as permanent leader of the Conservative Party

[joeysteele]

Boris Johnson would love to be leader fo the Conservative party but it's not going to happen.

I can't see enough in place to make David Cameron think he should stand down, but if the focus stays on him with this intensity, his party will get very restless towrds him,even more than a fair few are now.
The party conferences are going to be likely interesting with all this going on especially the Lib Dem one as they are bound by what their conference insists they do.

[Omah]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cba8a85a-b...#ixzz1SagagzzX

By George Parker in London and Jim Pickard in Lagos

David Cameron will on Wednesday face his biggest parliamentary test since becoming Britain’s prime minister, as he attempts to extricate himself from the phone hacking scandal and his dangerous liaison with Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.

Mr Cameron flew back from a trip to Africa on Tuesday night with aides insisting that suggestions he might resign over the affair were “ridiculous”. He will give a statement on the government’s response to the scandal to MPs on Wednesday.

While Mr Cameron was in mid-air, Rupert Murdoch was giving lawmakers on the House of Commons culture committee a fascinating insight into his relationship with the prime minister and the sensitivity that surrounded it.

Mr Murdoch’s newspapers backed Mr Cameron in the 2010 election and the media tycoon was rewarded by being invited into 10 Downing St for “a cup of tea” within hours of the prime minister taking office.

“I was asked if I would please come through the backdoor,” Mr Murdoch said, explaining that Mr Cameron did not want him to be photographed entering the building. “I just did what I was told.”

Mr Cameron’s intense links with Mr Murdoch and his media group have caused him huge embarrassment but so far there have been only sporadic calls from a handful of Labour MPs for him to resign. “It’s absolute nonsense,” said Amber Rudd, a Conservative member of parliament. “Of course he won’t resign.”

The prime minister has acknowledged that he was part of a political culture of complicity with Mr Murdoch, which allowed him to exert huge influence over the national debate without little fear of politicians holding him to account.

Labour MPs are looking forward to his "statement" and will partake of hearty Parliamentary breakfasts and (possibly) liquid lunches before the fray .....

[joeysteele]

Well in truth, had The Sun and News of the World continued to support Labour in the last election and had Labour won enough seats to form the govt even as a coalition then they too would have continued to court the Murdochs.

However the question mark that was, is and always will be until the end of this saga is the David Cameron appointment of Andy Coulson. It has turned out to be a massive error of judgement and if Coulson ends up with any criminal charges to answer,it will be even worse.

The fact the police investigation is likely to take 2 to 3 years to complete,means that this will be closing or just closed at the time of the next election and while I do not believe Cameron will fall because of this,I do believe he will be permanently politically damaged as a leader and will therefore probably lose the next election.

[Omah]

Originally Posted by joeysteele

Well in truth, had The Sun and News of the World continued to support Labour in the last election and had Labour won enough seats to form the govt even as a coalition then they too would have continued to court the Murdochs.

However the question mark that was, is and always will be until the end of this saga is the David Cameron appointment of Andy Coulson. It has turned out to be a massive error of judgement and if Coulson ends up with any criminal charges to answer,it will be even worse.

The fact the police investigation is likely to take 2 to 3 years to complete,means that this will be closing or just closed at the time of the next election and while I do not believe Cameron will fall because of this,I do believe he will be permanently politically damaged as a leader and will therefore probably lose the next election.

Cameron has many more crises to face before the next election ..... ;

[joeysteele]

Originally Posted by Omah

Cameron has many more crises to face before the next election ..... ;

I agree, you are right, and I cannot see him winning the next election, he didn't win the last one outright.

With all this going on,also the fact he allowed Miliband to take the first steps in this,then went along with all that was called for has tarnished him especially as to his judgement.

That happened too with Gordon Brown. I think economically his policies are not going to achieve what he hoped for too,certainly no way will the deficit be gone by 2015 as he insisited it would under his policies.
Then the Lib Dems, they will want to put great distance between them and the Conservatives to fight the next election.

I have no party allegiance, I like bits of all the main parties policies,(except now I will never likely trust the Lib Dems words again), I really feel sorry for Cameron on this, he is virtually in a no win situation,no matter what he now says and does.

[Omah]

0914:

The build-up to David Cameron's statement to the Commons at around 1130 BST continues. Labour MP Chris Bryant is giving an interview to the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg outside Parliament.

[Omah]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14214197

1136:

David Cameron is on his feet in the Commons - here comes his statement

1139:

The PM outlines his action plan. He says he has a well-led police investigatiion and a wide ranging judicial inquiry to establish what went wrong to ensure it never happens again.

1142:

Mr Cameron says the inquiry should consider "not just the relationship betwen the press, police and politicians, but their individual conduct too". He says it will also look at broadcasters and social media to see if there is any evidence they have been involved in criminal activities.

1145:

Mr Cameron says police corruption must be rooted out. He says the police "should pursue the evidence wherever it leads and arrest exactly who they wish, and that is exactly what they have done".

1146:

This public inquiry will be as robust as possible, fully independent and Lord Justice Leverson will be able to call witnesses as he wishes, Mr Cameron says.


He talks the talk but can he walk the walk ?

[Omah]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14214197

1237:

A quick round-up of the main points from David Cameron:

With hindsight, he would not have hired Andy Coulson as communications chief
Mr Coulson is innocent until proven guilty
He was unaware of any advice given to Mr Coulson by former News of the World deputy editor Neil Wallis
The meetings with News International broke no rules
Staff acted properly in turning down a police briefing about the hacking scandal


1249:

A reminder of Labour leader Ed Miliband's arguments:

The PM ignored damning information about Andy Coulson on at least five occasions
No 10 refused a police briefing because the PM was compromised by his relationship with Mr Coulson
The PM is guilty of deliberate attempt to "hide from the facts" about Mr Coulson
Mr Cameron's conflict of interest led to resignation of Met Police chief Sir Paul Stephenson
Sir Paul felt telling No 10 about hiring ex-News of the World deputy editor Neil Wallis would have compromised the PM

[joeysteele]

I have watched this today and still am with many friends,what I am finding is that those who have Labour leanings don't think Cameron will fall over this. However, those who are Conservatives are more against him then the others are.

It would seem to me that the Conservatives see Cameron as a loser,maybe also that's why Labour supporters want him to stay on and survive.

I wish he would just end the hullabaloo as to Coulson and just say yes, he made a mistake. Many people just don't get this, if he has lied,if he has done anything wrong as to hacking and knew about it then Cameron will say sorry.
As with the Murdochs, people want to hear humility and apologies for this chaos from all concerned. They don't want to be made to wait for that either.

I feel for Cameron, you pay a heavy price for loyalty in politics, he feels he has some loyalty still to Coulson but his association with him will I think bring electoral defeat at the next election.
We claim that we hate the brutality and coldness of politics and politicians.
Then when someone like Cameron holds on to his loyalty to someone,even now with a cloud over him but not convicted, then we want the brutality of politics to take over again.

Yeah, I feel sorry for Cameron on this one, I'd stand by a friend.