back to article Cameron: A nod's not as good as a wink to a Murdoch blind bat

Prime Minister David Cameron has dismissed as "nonsense" claims that suggest a "nod and wink" arrangement had been struck between his Conservative Party and Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper business News International. The PM, speaking at the Leveson Inquiry into the relationships between politicians and media owners, added …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Anonymous briefings???

    Is that what they're called now?

    "The PM's office DOES NOT leak!"

    1. Schultz
      Gimp

      Re: Anonymous briefings???

      I am sure the MP and the journalist wore appropriate masks to protect their identity. After the Mosley affair, surely everybody was aware about the importance of anonymity!

      Or did the PM actually mean 'anonymous' as in: kept from the eye of the public? Maybe 'secret' is the word. Somebody send him a dictionary!

    2. John G Imrie

      Re: Anonymous briefings???

      Bernard Wooly:

      That's another of those irregular verbs, isn't it?

      I give confidential press briefings;

      you leak;

      he's being charged under section 2A of the Official Secrets Act.

      -- Yes Minister Series Two (1987-88)

    3. P. Lee

      Re: Anonymous briefings???

      "The Ship of State is the only one which leaks from the top."

  2. That Steve Guy

    Friends who are journalists...

    On the subject of friends who are journalists, the PM said: "These are people I see very regularly and I'm never going to tell my office each time I see them."

    The public is not so niave, these visits need to be kept on record due to his position.

    "yes Dave, I am sure we can write a scandel involving mr Milliband next election..."

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

      Re: Friends who are journalists...

      You do realise that's how he got his education secretary? Michael Gove was a Times journo for years, then defected, joined the Tory party and ended up being a minister.

      Danny Finkelstein was an advisor to Major and then Hague, before quitting to go (back) to journalism.

      It was obvious from reading Finkelstein's pieces before the election that he was close to the Conservative leadership. That didn't mean that he always agreed with them, but he was a reliable source for what they were thinking about.

      Friendships between journalists and politicians are nothing new, and nothing that you're going to stop. Plus people keep moving between both careers anyway, so one year's journo, might be the next year's MP.

      The problem isn't people talking to each other. Ministers have always leaked to their favourite journalists. And actually politicians need a way to communicate ideas, without it being official policy (so long as they don't take the piss).

      The problem is if secret deals get done. Which is a different issue altogether.

      1. El Presidente
        Happy

        Re: The problem is *THAT* secret deals get done.

        There, I fixed that for you.

        1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
          Happy

          Re: The problem is *THAT* secret deals get done.

          El Presidente,

          Secret deals? Say it ain't so! I'm shocked! Shocked, I tell you... They don't ever happen in politics do they?

          I don't see the need for conspiracy here though. The Sun likes to back the winning side. It was pretty obvious Gordon Brown wasn't going to be on it, and he wasn't really the Sun's kind of guy anyway. So them changing support was no surprise. Of course there may have been a deal, becuase Cameron couldn't be certain of that.

          But there was no real reason to block the Sky deal, other than loathing of Murdoch. Which has always been more of a Labour than Tory thing. Firstly he already owns a massive chunk of it, so he's got lots of control already, and so it would make minimal difference. Secondly, TV news is regulated, and is supposed to be impartial. Unlike newspapers. So Sky News wouldn't become Fox overnight. I'm not a huge watcher of Sky News, but I've not seen much evidence, or serious suggestion, that it's always editorialising. Plus, not that many people watch it, compared to BBC and ITV. It doesn't exert a huge effect on the political life of the country, unlike The Sun, NotW and the Times. Or the Beeb.

  3. ukgnome
    Black Helicopters

    Vote Up

    vote up if you think the PM is a lying shit!

    of course you can vote down if you disagree with that sentiment.

    1. dogged

      Re: Vote Up

      Given that the PM is a politician, that's like asking if you think a Mondeo is a car.

      1. Winkypop Silver badge
        Windows

        Re: Vote Up

        ????

        I've always considered a Mondeo to be a POS.

    2. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

      Re: Vote Up

      ukgnome,

      Are you telling me you're surprised that people in the same industry know each other and become mates?

      Whether there were secret deals with Murdoch is another matter. But then the electorate have always known he was too close to politics for comfort, and it didn't stop people buying his papers.

      Rather like the News of the World thing. I don't believe anyone who'd thought about it for a few seconds didn't think that NotW was using phone hacking (I strongly suspect other papers have as well). But no-one cared, when it was just hacking celebs. People wanted the stories, and didn't give a fuck. After all, it's only celebs. Opinion changed a bit when it was a murdered kid...

      Broadly we get the democracy, and the press, we deserve. Even more so in the case of the press, in that we get to vote with our wallets every day. Nearly 2m people vote Daily Mail every day...

  4. Elmer Phud

    In the meantime . . .

    Sky spunks more on football than some small countries make in a year .

    Cameron - you've been pwnd as have one hell of a lot of other Brits.

  5. DJO Silver badge

    More of the same.

    Nothing to see here, politicians and journalists are just nice friendly people. The absurd suggestion that either party could be cynically manipulating the other surely belongs to the ramblings of the crazed conspiracy monger.

    Hang on a minute……………..

  6. El_Fev
    Thumb Down

    so....

    and guardian journos are labour supporters decks sake!, next minute you will be telling us bears defecate in woods

  7. toadwarrior

    Cameron has proven to be mostly useless and putting someone in charge of looking over the bskyb deal after he claimed to support either makes you a moron or you're running a scam for your mates.

  8. Chris Sake
    Joke

    Churchill was a journalist

    This is the sort of bloody nonsense up with which I will not put.

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