a bit of murdoch love
> I'll wager he waits till around the next election when MPs from all sides will be clamoring for a bit of Murdoch love.
i'll take that bet. by the time of the next election, murdoch love will be considerably less desirable than the love of an 80 year old clap-ridden crack whore with herpes.
and anyway, the murdoch empire will still be in deep, deep shit (if it's still around) by the time of the next election. it's going to take at least a year for the public inquiry to be completed. whatever measures pop out of that to improve probity, standards, ownership rules and so on should be falling into place when the next election is due. i very much doubt the leveson inquiry is going to decide it can be business as usual for murdoch ever again. any bid from murdoch will have to wait for a year or two at least after the inquiry's recommendations have been implemented.
once the leveson inquiry is done, expect the trials for hacking, blagging and police corruption. then, there may well be a perjury trial for coulson and the management of the news of the screws in scotland. which could be coming to an end when the next general election is due. if commie sheridan's conviction gets overturned, he'll sue the arse off murdoch.
it's likely to be 2013 before operation weeting identifies all the victims of phone hacking. and who knows what other filth that investigation has still to uncover. so there will then be a long procession of civil cases for damages which could take well beyond the next election to complete. i wonder how many advertisers will be happy to be associated with murdoch publications while this endless parade of sleaze gets aired in public over and over and over again.
it's likely senior management at news international will fail ofcom's "fit and proper" test for a broadcasting licence. they appear to have misled parliament, authorised dodgy payments to crooks and cops, approved confidentiality agreements and pay-offs to max clifford and gordon taylor to keep a lid on the hacking scandal, etc, etc. if these allegations are true those managers and shareholders would need to go (or be in prison) before news international could expect to be allowed to hold any stake in bskyb.
congressional hearings and court cases in the usa seem likely too. these may have to wait until the prosecutions and inquiries here are settled. though it's just been announced the fbi is now investigating if the news of the screws tried to hack the phones of 9/11 victims.
murdoch's master company is american. there are very serious penalties for a us company that is ultimately responsible for employing people who bribe foreign officials. for instance by making illegal payments to the metropolitan police to pick an example at random.
paris icon because it won't be long before everyone's going to need reminders about where to find the bum and tit that used to be in the sun every day.