As yesterday’s new revelations stunned everyone, it became clear that this is now a full blown crisis spreading like red hot lava from a volcanic eruption. The Murdoch business in the UK is under siege, with the scandal now spreading to the Sunday Times and the Sun. The family management of James and Rebekah is utterly discredited. Rupert Murdoch himself has become toxic. Whatever dance of regulators and quangos is now begun around his bid for control of BSkyB, the reality is that it is now too late for mere delay to smooth the path. This deal is never going to happen while the Murdoch family has anything to do with the management of News International. We suspect that the same goes for the parent, News Corporation. Although America regards this as a British crisis, it is beginning to turn its gaze inward. What it may see we cannot tell, yet, but the US is the land of the Special Prosecutor. SPs provide leadership and focus to complex enquiries. It is to Murdoch’s advantage that so such authority exists in the UK.
One of the most remarkable features of this drama, full to the brim with remarkable features, is the ineptitude of the leadership provided by the government in general, the minister, Jeremy Hunt, in particular and the prime minister most of all. Hunt’s performance in the commons yesterday, dancing to the Murdoch tune, was cringe making and the absence of the prime minister telling. The political damage to the government is huge. Ed Milliband shines as a star and speaks for the nation. Already an average of opinion polls projects Labour with a majority of 90.
What shocks perhaps the most, is the discovery that the police are corrupt, even to the level of officers protecting the Queen. The police themselves are under investigation as they investigate an ever widening array of potential crimes. The British public, perhaps, certainly to foreign eyes, just a little too keen to gorge on celebrity scandal, now finds itself faced with the third great crisis of our times. We started with the banking crash, then came the MPs and their expenses, now comes a discovery that the police steal and sell secrets, the media (or part of it) is a law unto itself with no boundaries, decency or conscience and the politicians have been in thrall to a Darth Vader style empire. The effect upon the health of our democracy is very grave, the more so because we lack the protection of a written constitution.
The implications are far reaching. Both Murdoch and his family are damaged beyond repair, though their effort to patch each other up will be energetic. Cameron too is a broken authority and so long as he leads it, his coalition will be much weakened. This is not a good time for weak government Jeremy Hunt style. The economy is stalling, Italy and Spain are now in trouble, the euro zone cannot resolve its issues, Gaddafi soldiers on regardless; the list is long and lengthening. Moreover, the Opposition is now united in a cause, behind a leader who has found his voice.