Brooks: “Worse to come”; Guardian: “Millions of emails” deleted by NI

Another day, another slew of staggering developments in the News of the World phone hacking scandal: Rebekah Brooks revealed there will be “worse revelations to come”; The Guardian reported that “millions of emails” may have been deleted by News International executives to cover their tracks; Andy Coulson was arrested; David Cameron announced there will be a full judge-led inquiry; and Ed Miliband branded the PCC a “toothless poodle”.

David-Cameron-Andy-Coulson
More on the latest NI revelations later, but first to Mr Cameron, for whom this was another day to forget at the end of his week from Hell, forced into making a sheepish statement to the press in Downing Street, watching his former communications chief arrested and his premises searched, and harangued by the lobby for his judgement over Coulson.

Yet by this evening, it appeared the prime minister was distancing himself from the judgement call over Coulson, with Sky News’s Adam Boulton revealing that the “senior adviser close to David Cameron” that Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger had spoken to about Coulson’s probity was Steve Hilton – and, according to Boulton, “whatever was said, that was not passed on to the prime minister”.

At his morning press conference, journalist after journalist pressed him on the Coulson question, wanting to know what he asked him of his past; what Coulson told him; why he trusted him; why he’s still close to him; why he’s still friends with him; why, after further revelations post-2007, did he bring him into Downing Street in May 2010… Cameron’s “second chance” defence wearing thin, his slickness not washing – though he did, finally, say something about Rebekah Brooks, namely that he would have accepted her resignation.

The clear political winner, today as every other day this week, was Ed Miliband, whose demand for a judge-led inquiry Mr Cameron finally acceeded to this morning. Earlier, the Leader of the Opposition led the way with a call for widescale reform of media regulation – branding the Press Complaints Commission a “toothless poodle” that “cannot restore trust in self-regulation” and should be “put out of its misery”.

There has, however, been some criticism of Mr Miliband over his own links to the Murdoch empire – which he confronted head on today, insisting that he had asked chief spinner Tom Baldwin “whether he engaged in any illegal activities”, and asked him about Lord Ashcroft’s revelations of impropriety, which Baldwin “absolutely denies”; in contrast, the prime minister has still to disclose exactly what questions he asked Coulson, and what Coulson told him.

Back to News International, and Sky News’s Sophie Ridge – a former News of the World journalist – reported tonight that NI chief executive Rebekah Brooks told NotW staff worse revelations are on there way, and that was why they had to close down the paper, adding that “in a year you’ll understand why these decisions were taken”.

It has been reported that staff email and internet access has been limited, with staff reportedly saying they “don’t appreciate being treated like criminals”, telling Brooks to her face she “should be sacrificing her own job” instead of “sacrificing hundreds of journalists for herself” – to which she is said to have replied “you may be angry with me – I understand… but I’m really angry with the people behind this, I feel betrayed”.

The other main development tonight is the Guardian’s revelations that police are investigating the suspected deletion of millions of emails by a senior executive, contradicting claims from NI that they would be “co-operating fully with police”. As well as the deletions, the Guardian say NI have “infuriated police” by leaking sensitive information – despite telling them they would keep it confidential – and are at risk of prosecution for perverting the course of justice “by trying to hide the contents of a senior reporter’s desk” after he was arrested earlier this year.

Also today, there were further reports the News Corp/BSkyB takeover deal “could collapse” in the wake of the scandal, with institutional investors saying the prospect of a deal happening soon is “fading”; and on the campaign front, an appeal has been launched to fund a detailed poll of public opinion on Rupert Murdoch – you can donate to the campaign here.

• There will be a full recap of all the week’s momentous developments in Look Left tomorrow.

http://twitter.com/northernblowwk/status/89406809651154945 Alan Marshall

RT @leftfootfwd: Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted : http://bit.ly/q62wij – the latest on the #NotW scandal
http://twitter.com/rosarubicondior/status/89407102073847808 Rosa Rubicondior

Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted: http://bit.ly/q62wij – the latest on the #NotW scandal
http://twitter.com/zati44444/status/89407112811266048 zati44444

Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted: http://bit.ly/q62wij – the latest on the #NotW scandal
http://twitter.com/eiohel/status/89407379766132736 Miljenko Williams

Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted: http://bit.ly/q62wij – the latest on the #NotW scandal
http://twitter.com/simonzec23/status/89407495176585217 Simon Zec

Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted: http://bit.ly/q62wij – the latest on the #NotW scandal
http://twitter.com/rbnpepper/status/89408021586911232 Robert Pepper

Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted: http://bit.ly/q62wij – the latest on the #NotW scandal
http://twitter.com/salctrprog/status/89408543937150976 Norman Nicholson

Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted: http://bit.ly/q62wij – the latest on the #NotW scandal
http://twitter.com/ldtuc/status/89408830412308483 L DTUC

Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted: http://bit.ly/q62wij – the latest on the #NotW scandal
http://twitter.com/seedswapper/status/89409360991760385 Thom Culpeper

Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted: http://bit.ly/q62wij – the latest on the #NotW scandal
http://twitter.com/evilc154/status/89411176433336320 Clive Burgess

Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted: http://bit.ly/q62wij – the latest on the #NotW scandal
http://twitter.com/brassiclint/status/89412037167419393 Dave Winter

RT @leftfootfwd: Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted by NI http://t.co/gQKnoG6
http://twitter.com/djwomble/status/89412126577410048 Stewart Lochhead

Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted: http://bit.ly/q62wij – the latest on the #NotW scandal
http://twitter.com/rachellh/status/89413597222023168 Rachel Hubbard

Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted: http://bit.ly/q62wij – the latest on the #NotW scandal
http://twitter.com/sorsameetsworld/status/89413729187401728 Sorscha Miller

Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted: http://bit.ly/q62wij – the latest on the #NotW scandal
http://twitter.com/westmonsterblog/status/89414207304503296 WestMonster

RT @leftfootfwd: Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted: http://bit.ly/q62wij – th… (cont) http://deck.ly/~YFrth
http://twitter.com/shamikdas/status/89415305205526528 Shamik Das

Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted: http://bit.ly/q62wij – the latest on the #NotW scandal
http://twitter.com/jonoread/status/89416382898384896 Jono Read

Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted: http://bit.ly/q62wij – the latest on the #NotW scandal
http://twitter.com/acogofchange/status/89416446957985792 A Cog of Change

Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted: http://bit.ly/q62wij – the latest on the #NotW scandal
http://twitter.com/janet_ewan/status/89419102510256128 janet ewan

Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted: http://bit.ly/q62wij – the latest on the #NotW scandal
http://twitter.com/threadbarepanda/status/89425044299722752 Panda

Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted: http://bit.ly/q62wij – the latest on the #NotW scandal
http://twitter.com/hammy104/status/89426111158681600 alan hammond

RT @leftfootfwd: Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted by NI http://t.co/wp1iLsG
http://twitter.com/leukadresje/status/89430810104569856 Leuk Adresje

Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted: http://bit.ly/q62wij – the latest on the #NotW scandal
http://ps-capital.com/20min/archives/11417 Phone hacking: David Cameron is not out of the sewer yet – Telegraph.co.uk « ps-capital.com

[...] longer in charge of phone-hacking inquiryThe GuardianAndy Coulson: I can't say anythingBBC NewsBrooks: “Worse to come”; Guardian: “Millions of emails” deleted by NILeft Foot ForwardFinancial Times -Contactmusic.com -The Hinduall 6,527 news [...]
http://twitter.com/therightarticle/status/89438397910880256 Michael

Brooks: “Worse to come”; Guardian: “Millions of emails” deleted by NI l Left Foot Forward – http://tinyurl.com/6dbebag
http://twitter.com/ahmad_noor/status/89452321104343040 Ahmad Noor

Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted: http://bit.ly/q62wij – the latest on the #NotW scandal
mr. Sensible

There’s a lot of water to run under the bridge yet…

Nice to see Lord Cashcroft trying to change the subject from the fact that his leader is playing catch up on this.
Robert

Just shows you the pissed up world we have now after Thatcher Blair and now Cameron Jesus between slamming disabled and the sick you have this plus you have millions staving to death. never mind dinners ready.
J.Payne

It is blatantly obvious that Coulson stands for collusion.There is something
rotten in the state of England .We are stewed in corruption.The whole ear of England is rankly abused and this should end in tragedy for all the main protagonists in this filthy drama.
http://twitter.com/isobelruth/status/89518101179277313 Isobel Hindhaugh

Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted: http://bit.ly/q62wij – the latest on the #NotW scandal
http://twitter.com/extraditiongame/status/89523936731205632 Extradition Game

RT @leftfootfwd: Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted: http://bit.ly/q62wij – the latest on the #NotW scandal
http://twitter.com/trakgalvis/status/89540401614163968 Trakgalvis

Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted by NI | Left Foot Forward http://t.co/aSGR6lQ
http://twitter.com/brit_newsman/status/89540582111838208 ds

Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted by NI | Left Foot Forward http://t.co/aSGR6lQ
http://twitter.com/vickiwhelan/status/89580829864493056 vicki whelan

Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted by NI | Left Foot Forward http://t.co/aSGR6lQ
http://twitter.com/drkmj/status/89621300217257984 DrKMJ

RT @leftfootfwd: Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted: http://bit.ly/q62wij – the latest on the #NotW scandal
http://twitter.com/zenscara/status/89621647820201984 Vicky B

RT @leftfootfwd: Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted: http://bit.ly/q62wij – the latest on the #NotW scandal
http://twitter.com/patrickhadfield/status/89621996282974208 Patrick Hadfield

RT @leftfootfwd: Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted: http://bit.ly/q62wij – the latest on the #NotW scandal
http://twitter.com/cineversitytv/status/89625864265924608 Pi-Qui Baltink

RT @leftfootfwd: Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted: http://bit.ly/q62wij – the latest on the #NotW scandal
Robert

Thank god! that papers not in wales Scotland or Ireland other wise the British would be pissed off.
http://twitter.com/nataliewh/status/89670103502831616 Nat

Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted: http://bit.ly/q62wij – the latest on the #NotW scandal
http://twitter.com/phoebewonderlan/status/89680399315369984 Robaire Beckwith

"Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted to cover tracks: http://bit.ly/q62wij #NotW scandal
http://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/07/look-left-09-07-11/ Look Left – The week the gutter press were finally reined in | Left Foot Forward

[...] are reports that News International executives have deleted millions of emails, the 21st-century equivalent of [...]
http://twitter.com/june4th/status/89832671798235137 Noxi

RT @leftfootfwd: Brooks: "Worse to come"; Guardian: "Millions of emails" deleted: http://bit.ly/q62wij – the latest on the #NotW scandal
http://blogbasics.com Paul Odtaa

Cameron is such a close personal friend of Rebekah Brooks and is so closely linked to New International that he’s finished.

There is now little justification for the normal LibDems to stick with the coalition and the real Tory nasties, who hate a smarmy Blair-like PR focused leader, are going to start coming out of the woodwork soon.

Knives are being sharpened – I give Cameron at most 18 months.
Leon Wolfson

Maybe – but I don’t think so, Paul. He’s not going to stop down unless he’s forced to, forget going out like a gentleman.
http://twitter.com/stevennott/status/145995524313591808 Steven Nott

#LEVESON – Rebekah Brooks “in a year you’ll understand why these decisions were taken” Closing down a 168 yr old paper http://t.co/i86oSCet
http://twitter.com/davidh7426/status/145995764278104065 David V Humphreys

#LEVESON – Rebekah Brooks “in a year you’ll understand why these decisions were taken” Closing down a 168 yr old paper http://t.co/i86oSCet
http://twitter.com/aliceblundrland/status/146119215420682241 Alice in Blunderland

#LEVESON – Rebekah Brooks “in a year you’ll understand why these decisions were taken” Closing down a 168 yr old paper http://t.co/i86oSCet