- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
Introduction
After over a year of the Leveson Inquiry looking at "the culture, practices and ethics of the British press" you might think that the UK Phone Hacking scandal is winding up, but of course, you'd be very very wrong.
Unfortunately for News Corp a far greater scandal has been brewing (yes, greater than hacking the phones of murdered children), which at the very least points to the News of the World and it's private investigator, Southern Investigations, targeting senior public figures, including billionaires, politicans, ministers, etc, for burglaries, with the items stolen being used for stories, blackmail, and manipulation. It's one of those rare occasions were the suffix -gate actually seems quite fitting.
Here's some handy resources to get you all started:
Previous threads
I - Grandpappy Murdoch vs. Jonnie Pie Faces - July 15th - July 19th
II - Murdoch vs. The World - The Inappropriate TV IV thread for July 20th - July 20th
III - Murdoch vs. The World II - James Murdoch vs Early Onset Alzheimer's - July 20th - November 11th
IV - Murdoch vs. The World III - Burgling MPs, Blackmailing Senior Police Officers = November 12th 2011 - September 18th 2012
Recommended reading
Hackgate for Beginners - A guide to all the different aspects of the hacking scandal so far, really worth a read if you need to catch up.
Alex Marunchak - Presumed Innocent - About a key figure at the News of the World who worked closely with Southern Investigations and has mysteriously avoided arrest (at the time of writing).
Operation Tuleta - A Second Look - Examining the police operation that will likely be at the centre of charges relating to Hackgate 2.
I'd also recommend you follow me on Twitter for the latest Hackgate 2 news, assuming you can put up with all the Syria Tweets I make.
|
#
¿
Sep 18, 2012 09:06
|
|
- Adbot
-
ADBOT LOVES YOU
|
|
|
#
¿
Apr 26, 2024 11:32
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
And so to begin here's the Independent's article that links the News of the World (and Alex Marunchak) directly to the ordering of burglaries
quote:Exclusive: News of the World 'ordered burglary'
Detectives have evidence which suggests that a notorious private detective agency carried out a burglary while working for the News of the World.
In the latest twist to the phone-hacking scandal, a police intelligence report indicates that Southern Investigations, based in south London, targeted the home of a newsworthy individual in an attempt to dig up salacious information.
The Independent has established that the material – the first suggested link between the News of the World and burglary – is being held by Operation Tuleta, the police inquiry into illegal newsgathering techniques other than phone hacking and corruption. It refers to a "sortie" carried out into a woman's home in Ascot, Berkshire, and mentions the name of Alex Marunchak – a long-serving executive on the News of the World.
A police assessment indicated that Southern Investigations or an associate had "gained unauthorised access into a private domestic premises with a view to gaining information on the resident".
Separately, a former undercover policeman who infiltrated Southern Investigations said that it burgled MPs' homes in an attempt to obtain embarrassing information for the newspaper. All those involved in Southern Investigations, and Mr Marunchak, deny any involvement in break-ins or knowledge of any illegal acts.
Tom Watson, the Labour politician who campaigned against phone hacking, said that, if proven to be evidence of burglary, the material showed further serious wrongdoing at the News of the World.
There have long been concerns that, as well as phone hacking and police corruption, burglaries took place in an attempt to land stories.
Several public figures whose voicemail messages were hacked by the newspaper, including the actor Hugh Grant, the Football Association executive David Davies, and Paul Stretford, Wayne Rooney's former agent, fell victim to break-ins where nothing was stolen. The Labour frontbencher Chris Bryant and other MPs are thought to have been similarly targeted.
The Independent does not know of evidence to connect break-ins at their homes to the News of the World. But the new evidence provides an apparent link between at least one burglary and the newspaper. Police obtained the material in 2002 during an investigation into one of Southern Investigations' two partners, Sid Fillery.
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the agency, based in Thornton Heath, used corrupt police officers to supply information to newspaper groups, notably News International and Trinity Mirror. At the News of the World, its contact was Mr Marunchak.
In a statement to The Independent, Mr Marunchak denied he had any involvement in any illegal acts. He said: "I have never commissioned Southern Investigations or any other third party to carry out any burglaries or any illegal acts whatsoever. I have no knowledge of any alleged burglaries being committed by Southern Investigations."
When contacted. Mr Fillery, who now runs a pub in Norfolk, also issued a denial, saying: "It's most definitely not correct. Let me tell you about the News of the World – despite their reputation, they behaved very correctly. The only reason they employed us was to stand stories up. We committed no criminal offences."
The London Evening Standard quoted a former Metropolitan Police undercover officer, Derek Haslam, yesterday as saying that Southern Investigations burgled MPs' homes. Jonathan Rees, Mr Fillery's partner at Southern Investigations, told the newspaper: "He [Haslam] alleges that [Southern Investigations] burgled an MP's garage to remove a briefcase, photographed the contents of the briefcase and put that back. That's a lie."
A spokesman for Scotland Yard declined to discuss the progress of Operation Tuleta. A spokesman said: "We are not prepared to discuss any specific operational matters."
News International, Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper group, said it would be "inappropriate" to comment while the police investigation was continuing.
Mr Watson, whose garage at his constituency home in West Bromwich was broken into and paperwork rifled through in 2009, said: "News Corporation in the UK stands accused of phone hacking, computer hacking, bribery, conspiring to pervert the course of justice, inappropriate covert surveillance, lies and cover-up. Now added to the list is the allegation of burglary.
"During the course of investigating phone hacking, I met many victims who had also suffered mysterious break-ins – burglaries where easily stolen valuables were left. I will be raising this in Parliament at the earliest opportunity."
The Press Reform blog has also been putting together the latest news, which is well worth a read.
Brown Moses fucked around with this message at 09:10 on Sep 18, 2012
|
|
#
¿
Sep 18, 2012 09:08
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
Last week it was the last chance for people to take civil action against the News of the World
quote:Neil Kinnock takes legal action as new phone-hacking claims reach 174
News International is now facing almost 200 fresh phone-hacking claims with legal action now confirmed from individuals including the former Labour party leader Neil Kinnock, former cabinet minister Stephen Byers and Louise Woodward, the former nanny jailed in the US for killing a baby.
According to papers lodged with the high court in London ahead of Friday's deadline for new lawsuits, the publisher of the now defunct News of the World is facing another 53 civil actions for invasion of privacy, on top of more than 50 filed earlier last week – bringing the total expected to go to trial next year to 174.
The late flood of new phone-hacking claims includes lawsuits from former Big Brother presenter Davina McCall, EastEnders actor Jessie Wallace, Russell Brand, Katie Price and her ex-husband Peter Andre, former Doctor Who star Christopher Eccleston, and ex-Cold Feet actor John Thompson.
The list features former Conservative MP Neil Hamilton and his wife Christine, former This Morning presenter John Leslie and film and documentary maker Christopher Terrill, who was going out with Heather Mills before she married Sir Paul McCartney.
Tommy Sheridan, the former Scottish Socialist party leader, is also suing News International over alleged phone hacking. Sheridan was convicted of perjury in 2010 over his evidence in his successful libel action against the News of the World in 2006, but released in January after serving 12 months of his three-year sentence.
Kinnock, who was a regular target of tabloid vitriol and dubbed "the Welsh windbag", is claiming damages with his wife Glenys. Woodward, the au pair convicted of manslaughter of a baby in the US in 1997, is making a joint claim with three other individuals including her mother and father, Sue and Gary.
Byers, who served as trade secretary and transport secretary under Tony Blair, is taking action in a joint claim with another individual.
The new claims include one from a former News of the World show business reporter, Lee Harpin, who left the paper in 2003, and went on to be news editor at the Sunday Mirror.
Celebrity agent Sue Ayton is also suing. She has acted for a string of top news presenters, including Peter Sissons, Michael Buerk, Moira Stewart, Jon Snow and the BBC's former royal correspondent Jennie Bond.
The 53 claims were made public on Monday and were submitted in time for the 14 September deadline set by Mr Justice Vos, who is managing the second tranche of legal cases being taken against News International over phone hacking.
They bring the total number of claims that may go to trial next year to 174 – the remainder of claims had already been submitted and made public, including legal action being taken by Cherie Blair, Wayne Rooney and David Beckham's father Ted.
Last week, more than 50 other claims were submitted, including cases being launched by Sarah Ferguson, Joanne Leese, the woman whose boyfriend was murdered in the Australian outback, and Uri Geller.
Earlier this year, 58 individuals won payouts from News International, including former culture secretary Tessa Jowell who won £200,000, and the singer Charlotte Church who won £300,000 for her family and a further £300,000 in costs.
It transpired last week that her parish priest was also allegedly hacked along with her former boyfriend, Steve Johnson, both of whom are suing News International.
The publisher is also dealing with 124 other claims submitted to its own phone-hacking compensation scheme.
Of course, this was all before it was public knowledge that there was much worse stuff going on.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 18, 2012 09:23
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
It violates God knows how many laws... these people probably could go away for the rest of their lives.
Aside - in the last few pages of the last thread, hacks proclaiming exclusive about NotW using investigative company linked to murder... pretty sure Tom Watson talks about this at length in his book and that he's been banging on about this for some time. I'm embarrassed for the remaining embers of our press.
In that regard it's probably a REALLY good time to read up on the murder of Daniel Morgan, former partner at Southern Investigations who was about to reveal details of massive police corruption to a journalist but ended up with an axe in his face in a car park. The alleged journalist in question? Alex Marunchak, who went on to have a close working relationship with Southern Investigations.
There's actually a lot of Freemasonary links involved, but most people are avoiding it because it makes you sound loopy even bringing the subject up.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 18, 2012 09:32
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
Could this be the Milly Dowler moment?
quote:Did News International order burglary of Hillsborough campaigner’s home?
Hillsborough campaigner Sheila Coleman’s home was broken into more than once—and her address book and papers about the case stolen. The question is: who did it?
She told Socialist Worker about the burglaries as evidence emerged that a private detective agency carried out a burglary while working for the now-closed News of the World.
A police intelligence report indicates that Southern Investigations “gained unauthorised access” to the home of a newsworthy person “with a view to gaining information”.
Sheila told Socialist Worker that the burglaries of her home fit this pattern—as the thieves did not take items of monetary value. “On one occasion only my address book was stolen,” she said.
“I know private investigators were paid by News International to break into people’s houses and take their address books.”
On another occasion, after the inquest ended, Sheila got home to find her flat had been broken into. “There was nothing taken of any value on the streets”, she said. “But in the park nearby was my briefcase with all my Hillsborough papers strewn all over.”
Several public figures who were victims of News of the World phone hacking have similar stories of burglaries where no valuables were stolen.
Labour MP Tom Watson’s garage was broken into in 2009, and paperwork was rifled through. He says that during the phone hacking case he has “met many victims who had also suffered mysterious break-ins”.
Former private investigators and News of the World executives have denied any involvement in burglary.
Sheila Coleman also raised suspicions that Hillsborough campaigners’ and families phones may have been tapped during the 1990s.
“I assumed it was the police and that it was because of the work I was doing,” she says. “I would pick up the phone and listen to two Hillsborough families in different houses having a conversation.
“Lots of families would say similar things about picking the phone up and hearing other people talking. Anyone ringing me would say my phone would be picked up before I picked it up.”
She added that there were other curious occurrences that made her think someone was tampering with her phone.
“One Saturday a colleague from work rang me and couldn’t get through,” she says. “Anyone who knew my movements would know I’d be out at that time. My colleague rang British Telecom to say I want to report my friend’s phone, there’s something wrong with it. She was told: ‘That phone’s been temporarily disconnected on the instructions of the manager.’ My phone was working normally by the evening.”
It seems there are still more cover-ups yet to be revealed over Hillsborough.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 18, 2012 09:58
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
It would be interesting to see if there's any old news reports of public figures being mysteriously burgled, or having their phones and laptops stolen.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 18, 2012 10:16
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
I might blog about these past burglaries if I can clear my schedule, so keep em coming.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 18, 2012 10:28
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
The question you should all be asking is who was actually doing the burglaries?
|
|
#
¿
Sep 18, 2012 10:51
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
Was it SI who were using serving police officers for burglaries in the 80s and 90s or have I got my sleazy fuckers mixed up?
Ding!
|
|
#
¿
Sep 18, 2012 11:04
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
It's possible David Cameron hired Andy Coulson after he was responsible for ordering burglaries that targeted members of the Labour party. If that's the case was Cameron, or other members of his government, aware of the News of the World's activities?
|
|
#
¿
Sep 18, 2012 11:30
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
Couple more stolen laptop stories
Hazel Blears
More than 1,000 government laptops lost or stolen, new figures show
|
|
#
¿
Sep 18, 2012 12:05
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
Moses, is Levenson at a definite end, or could this start a WHOLE other round of hearings?
I was asking that same question myself, I think it's something Tom Watson or Chris Bryant might bring up, it's obviously under the remit of the Leveson Inquiry, and will probably undermine his conclusions if he doesn't consider these new revelations.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 18, 2012 12:52
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
What's the chance this gets swept under the rug entirely?
They might try, but there's people who will be doing everything they can to avoid that from happening.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 18, 2012 13:11
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
Tom Watson has written a nice letter
quote:Letter to Rupert Murdoch regarding burglary
Mr Rupert Murdoch
Chairman and CEO
News Corporation
1211 Avenue of Americas
New York
NY 10036
18 September 2012
Dear Mr Murdoch,
As you know, I have been uncovering criminality at News International for several years. During which time, the company’s management has regularly asked me to provide evidence of its habitual criminality. I have resisted such requests, as I did not believe they were sincere. It was my belief that senior people at the company knew perfectly well about journalists being involved in phone hacking, computer hacking, bribery and blackmail. And that the company had no wish to deal with these problems – did not even see them as such – rather to know what evidence existed in order to destroy it, to muddy the trail, in short, to cover up. For these reasons, I have resisted passing on evidence to you, and have passed it solely to the law enforcement authorities instead.
Nevertheless, I am writing to you today because I believe it may be possible that that era may be drawing to a close. I believe it possible that you and the current executives at the company may have realised that it is now too late to cover up what has gone on at News International. Whether or not you, and your executives, knew about the widespread use within News International of the latest investigative technique to be revealed – burglary – I believe you may now realise that the flat denial and attempt to destroy evidence of previous days will no longer wash with anybody.
I have seen a document from the hard drive of private investigator Sid Fillery, a regular contractor at News International through his company, Southern Investigations. The document, entitled “Alex1.doc” refers to a request for a sortie into the home of a woman living in Ascot. The hard drive was seized by the police in 2002 and is still in their possession. I understand that it was reviewed by the police in 2010 and that an internal document at the Metropolitan Police states quite clearly that they believe the file shows a conspiracy to break and enter into private property. Further details are on the front page of The Independent today.
You might not also be aware that a number of high profile figures who were the victims of phone hacking also reported mysterious break-ins at their homes. The pattern is the same: the homes clinically entered but no valuables taken. My colleague, Chris Bryant was so concerned that his home had been covertly entered that he reported the matter to the police. I understand the Metropolitan Police dispatched Commander Yates to take the statement. I understand the file containing the statement has gone missing.
I have audio testimony from the undercover former police officer with intimate knowledge of Southern investigations who claims that the burglary of the homes of MPs was a regular occurrence.
I am also aware, through the lawyer of a hacking victim, that there is testimony from another former private investigator that he was regularly hired to break into the homes of individuals who were the subject of investigation by News International. At the present time the investigator is not prepared to speak out in public.
This evidence has come to light after the Leveson Inquiry has stopped taking evidence. I think it important that you make a public statement to clarify how you intend to deal with these startling new revelations and how you will assist the police with their investigation.
Shortly, I will also be writing to you confidentially about information I have received from a former employee of the company regarding the conduct of former News of the World journalist and now Sunday Times investigator, Mazher Mahmood.
If there is any integrity at all to your claims to want to clean up the corruption and criminality endemic in your company, perhaps you would act on the evidence I am adducing. Public re-assurance that this matter is being dealt with would be welcome.
I would be grateful for a swift reply to this letter.
Yours sincerely
Tom Watson
Member of Parliament for West Bromwich East
And the reply I'll imagine he'll receive
quote:Dear Tom,
gently caress you,
Love Rupes
|
|
#
¿
Sep 18, 2012 13:54
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
If you aren't following me on Twitter you've missed out on some hackgate fun today.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 18, 2012 14:25
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
quote:Private detective’s axe murder: family ask Theresa May for inquiry
Home Secretary Theresa May was today under growing pressure to order a judicial inquiry into one of London’s most notorious unsolved murders.
Mrs May has delayed for 13 months a decision over whether to order a judge-led probe into the death of Daniel Morgan, a private detective who was found in a south London car park with an axe embedded in his skull in 1987.
In an unprecedented step, the victim’s family and one of the prime suspects today united in their calls for Mrs May to order an independent inquiry.
Daniel’s brother Alastair said: “Scotland Yard’s handling of the case has disturbed my family deeply from the outset.
“I don’t know of any case worse than Daniel’s, especially from the point of view of suspected criminality within the police. Theresa May’s handling of our submission has also caused us further distress.”
Mr Morgan was backed by Jonathan Rees, Mr Morgan’s former business partner at Southern Investigations, who was acquitted of any role in the murder in March last year and believes a judicial inquiry would help clear his name.
He said: “Certainly it would hold senior officers to account and expose the weaknesses and incompetence of the initial police investigation, rather than the continued suggestion that I and other police officers were involved in the murder.”
The calls follow yesterday’s Evening Standard disclosure that the Met had an undercover “mole” inside Southern Investigations for nine years, who told his handlers of alleged widespread criminality and claims he was astonished when police failed to act.
Scotland Yard admits the Morgan murder has been plagued by police corruption for 25 years and five major criminal investigations — at a cost of £30 million — have failed to achieve any successful prosecutions.
Following the collapse of the Old Bailey trial, a solicitor for the Morgan family wrote to the Home Secretary in August last year to say they had been “failed repeatedly by the criminal justice system” and warned her of “the repeated failure of the [Met] over the years to address the role played by police corruption in protecting those responsible for the murder from being brought to justice”.
Raju Bhatt, who was also a member of the Independent Hillsborough Panel which exposed serious police corruption, argued the only way for his clients to gain any form of justice was through an independent inquiry.
In a further letter to the Home Secretary posted yesterday, Mr Bhatt wrote: “[My clients] have sought to engage with you in a constructive and open manner, so your failure to respond in any meaningful way has served only to compound their distress.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “It is deeply regrettable that Daniel Morgan’s killers have not been brought to justice and we understand the strength of feeling this case has caused. We are carefully considering next steps.”
If anyone deserves attention in all of this it's the family of Daniel Morgan, who have clearly been hosed over by the police, press, and government for 25 years.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 18, 2012 14:41
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
I think a new thread and new major developments call for some kind of updated infographic showing all the major connections here. Then again, it's so dense it's more of a fog than a web.
At this point it would probably resemble a mind-bending fractal, but I'd love to do that sometime.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 18, 2012 15:12
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
If you are on Twitter I'd highly recommended following iTrackUK, occasionally Tweeting stuff that's not in the public domain.
Brown Moses fucked around with this message at 18:50 on Sep 18, 2012
|
|
#
¿
Sep 18, 2012 16:07
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
I'm expecting at least a million retweets.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 18, 2012 16:50
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
So there's been a couple of mentions of the network graphs that were put up in the last thread. I'm planning on getting back into working on them, now that I've finally got some time to do so again. Work has been especially hectic in the past six months and in that time there has been a lot revealed that can be mapped out. These two issues combined have resulted in a disastrously complex graph (simple version, last updated at the end of May) because I kept on throwing in extra connections as they arose, without any real plan or theory. The new plan is a focus on clarity and smaller networks that can be interlinked, if needed.
In the meantime, I took a look at some different data today as some people have been wondering whether the current revelations are going to have much exposure in the press. I ran a quick search of "phone hacking" in a newspaper archive database and have plotted the number of articles published each month. The graph below shows a y-axis log plot of average number of articles published a day in each month from Jan 2010 (the month before the first CMSC report was published) up until today. As would be expected, spikes in the number of articles match up very nicely with events in this timeline. I've marked a few of the big ones:
I've adjusted the data so it's articles per day because months aren't uniform in length, Spetember isn't finished yet, and I'm a pedant. I've used a log y-axis in that graph because of this:
and just for 'fun' here's how article publication rate about phone hacking fares against article publication about something nicer. There's no correlation, sadly:
Will this new stuff coming out be another bump, like Sean Hoare's? I guess it's just a case of wait-and-see for now.
Mind if I post this on my blog? Sure plenty of people would find it interesting.
Meanwhile, there's been 3 more hackgate arrests
quote:Operation Elveden: Police officer and journalists held
Police probing alleged corrupt payments to public officials have arrested a serving officer and two journalists.
A 39-year-old Wiltshire Police officer was held at his home in the county on suspicion of misconduct and conspiracy to commit misconduct.
The two journalists were arrested at their home addresses on suspicion of conspiracy to corrupt and conspiracy to cause misconduct.
A 51-year man was held in Bristol and a 32-year-old man in south-east London.
Scotland Yard said the arrests were the result of information provided by News Corporation's management standards committee, which was set up in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal.
Operation Elveden is investigating allegations of inappropriate payments to police and public officials, and runs alongside Operation Weeting, the probe into phone hacking.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 19, 2012 08:53
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
Sure, go ahead. If you want to make any modifications that's fine too, just let me know through firing[dot]cirrus[at]gmail[dot]com (I locked myself out of the old hotmail one).
Thanks, put it up here.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 19, 2012 09:46
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
Tabloid Troll has a couple of interesting Tweets about today's arrests
quote:Interesting that one of the hacks arrested today had agreed a voluntary redundancy package agreed b4 being shopped by MSC - moneysaver?
Arrested journo agreed redundo at same time as group of subs - kept asking where money was after they got theirs. Month later arrested.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 19, 2012 10:07
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
Say, not to pry, but what is your background in all this? Just some well-connected blogger/tweeter?
Yes, that's probably the best way of putting it. Think of me a Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams, and my blog being the baseball diamond he builds.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 19, 2012 10:42
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
quote:Leveson may face Commons committee
Lord Justice Leveson has spent nine months interrogating the newspaper industry about ethics and relationships with the police and politicians, but now the tables may be turned. He may be summoned before a parliamentary committee to be quizzed about his proposals for future regulation of the press.
Paul Farrelly, a Labour MP on the Commons culture, media and sport select committee, told a gathering of Hacked Off campaigners on Monday night that Leveson may be invited to make an appearance once his report offering the government proposals on the future regulation of the press is finalised later this year.
"We might have Lord Justice Leveson in front of us at the select committee to see why his model is better than others in the industry," he said.
It is understood that the committee is also going to summon Lord Hunt, the chairman of the Press Complaints Commission, at the same time to compare and contrast their models for a new regulatory system.
The committee believes that asking Leveson to appear is within its remit as he will be one of many offering proposals for a successor to the PCC.
If he does attend a culture select committee hearing, Leveson will face questions from some new faces.
Labour's Tom Watson has resigned because of rules that prohibit frontbenchers sitting on select committees and Conservative MP Louise Mensch's place has been vacated following her decision to quit parliament and the UK to live in New York.
Tory MPs Damian Collins and Therese Coffey are also stepping down from the committee.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 19, 2012 10:59
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
Is Tom Watson a Labour frontbencher now?
That's what has confused me, there's not been a shadow cabinet reshuffle, and I hadn't heard of one planned. Maybe he knows something we don't?
[edit] It's a Guardian gently caress up apparently.
Brown Moses fucked around with this message at 11:49 on Sep 19, 2012
|
|
#
¿
Sep 19, 2012 11:36
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
So he's still on the committee?
No, but he's not leaving because of the frontbench.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 19, 2012 12:06
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
So why is he leaving, do we know?
Not yet, I've been told nothing apart from the Guardian article being wrong about the frontbench thing.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 19, 2012 12:34
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
More on the earlier arrest, it includes a Sun journalist
quote:Operation Elveden: Sun journalists and policeman held
Two men, aged 32, from south London, and 51 and from Bristol, are being questioned over claims of conspiracy to corrupt and cause misconduct.
A 39-year-old with the Wiltshire force was held at his home in the county on suspicion of misconduct and conspiracy.
Some 50 people have so far been interviewed by Scotland Yard officers working on Operation Elveden.
The inquiry is investigating allegations of inappropriate payments to police and public officials, and runs alongside Operation Weeting, the probe into phone hacking.
Scotland Yard said the arrests were the result of information provided by News Corporation's management standards committee, which was set up in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal.
A spokesperson said they "relate to suspected payments to a public official and suspected disclosure of confidential information by a police officer and are not about seeking journalists to reveal confidential sources in relation to information that has been obtained legitimately".
The Sun's publishers, News Corporation's News International unit, confirmed that the two arrested journalists work for the newspaper, but did not disclose further details.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 19, 2012 13:51
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
In case you missed it in the last thread Derek Haslem, the undercover officer who worked at Southern Investigations, claiming Southern Investigations targeted "MPs, ministers, the Home Secretary" for blackmail and "influence"
quote:Hurst - The point is that MPs, ministers, the Home Secretary, they were targets, and that information was communicated to your handlers.
Haslem - And the reason is they fell into two two camps of target, one that could be made, they could, er, financially make money from, and the other type was one that they could use, blackmail, or influence for their own benefit to do with their own thing, because they were so anti that squad.
Hurst - So, yeah, you mean they see...
Haslem - Yeah, anything that could put the Met into a bad light, or anybody they could implicate, or blackmail into helping them, you know, in two. One would have been for earning money like Marunchak's end, and two would have been for influence.
Hurst - But you can put your hand on your heart and you can say categorically that all intelligence which you generated which demonstrated a threat to posed against an MP, a minister, or the home secretary was communicated to your handler?
Haslem - That's right, and you look at my motivation [cut]
Now am I mad, or does that seem like quite a big deal? Because no-one is bloody reading it on my blog.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 19, 2012 14:02
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
Why does Ian Hurst know so much about this? He was a army and MI5 man wasn't he not police?
I get the feeling he's extremely good at what he does. One should avoid loving with a spy.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 19, 2012 14:25
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
That's what I was saying about 'sweep it under the rug'. When things seem to horribly, cartoonishly big, people don't believe it.
Republish it with a Sun style headline. "BLACK BAG BAGS WHITE BOXES" or something.
Working bit of Moses Magic on it as we speak, finger crossing time.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 19, 2012 14:31
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
More interesting stuff from iTraceUK
quote:The Police have known since March 2011 that I have direct access - It was me that first confronted SOCA Re: OP Millipede Cont.
Cont. I asked MPS in 2011 for info and was lied to hence I dust off the old trade craft and play the long game Cont
Cont. Since 2011 I have been up front with the Police unfortunately they chose the hard way
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kin4cK7uCc
|
|
#
¿
Sep 19, 2012 20:46
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
Tom Watson tweeted this
quote:On the day Ofcom publish their report, I understand an arrest has been made of a 30 year old journalist relating to a theft inquiry.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 20, 2012 10:17
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
Apparently Tom Watson was saying that on the radio this morning with a nudge, heavily implicating that clause would soon be taken up due to the monstrous new revelations about Murdoch's outfits.
He's on here at 2:25
|
|
#
¿
Sep 20, 2012 10:34
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
I've heard nothing about Sky News, not sure if he's means they were directly involved in stuff or not, or it's a general News Corp thing.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 20, 2012 11:12
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
I'm reading this as a bit of a "gently caress you" to Ofcom
quote:James Murdoch set for key News Corp role, reports say
James Murdoch is being lined up for an expanded role at News Corp, the media empire controlled by his father, according to reports.
Mr Murdoch, 39, who gave up his main executive jobs in the UK earlier this year, is said to be taking charge of News Corp's US television businesses.
The Financial Times and News Corp-owned Wall Street Journal newspapers carried the reports.
On Thursday, Mr Murdoch was criticised strongly by the UK media regulator.
Ofcom said Mr Murdoch's record as head of the London-based News International newspaper group "repeatedly fell short" of what was expected and was at times "ill-judged".
If confirmed, the appointment would give Mr Murdoch responsibility for the successful Fox Networks Group, which includes cable channels such as National Geographic. It does not include the Fox News channel, which is a separate division.
The Financial Times reported that the appointment was likely to be confirmed later this year.
Mr Murdoch, deputy chief operating officer at News Corp, moved back to New York earlier this year after relinquishing his roles as chairman of BSkyB in April and executive chairman of News International in February.
Ofcom had been reviewing whether pay-TV company BSkyB, which is 39% owned by News Corp, was "fit and proper" to hold a broadcasting licence in the wake of the scandal.
The regulator allowed BSkyB to keep its licence, but criticised Mr Murdoch for failing to uncover the extent of phone hacking at the newspaper group.
News Corp welcomed Ofcom's decision on BSkyB's licence, but defended Mr Murdoch, saying some of the statements about him were "not at all substantiated by evidence".
The Wall Street Journal said News Corp had been waiting for "some clarity" on the fallout from the phone-hacking scandal before making a decision on Mr Murdoch's new role.
More big Hackgate 2 developments are on the way for next week, so keep an eye out for those.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 21, 2012 13:54
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
I've put together a post of recommended Arab Spring and Hackgate articles from the past week, hoping to make it a weekly thing.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 23, 2012 18:37
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
My regular contributor has just put together a new piece on the Cook-Hames debacle with Southern Investigations, really worth a read to understand the background to all things Southern Investigations and police corruption (with the collusions of the NotW)
http://brown-moses.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/the-cook-hames-surveillance-watched.html
The BBC journalist training scheme has just opened for applications, so I'm going to give that a shot as well once it's wife approved.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 24, 2012 11:10
|
|
- Adbot
-
ADBOT LOVES YOU
|
|
|
#
¿
Apr 26, 2024 11:32
|
|
- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
-
|
That's the one, starting March 2013, maybe we'll both get on!
|
|
#
¿
Sep 24, 2012 11:57
|
|
#
¿
Sep 18, 2012 09:06
