James Kirkup

Rupert Murdoch leaves his London residence this morning (Photo: PA)

Having landed in London last night after a trip to Nigeria, David Cameron hasn’t had the ideal preparation for what could well be the most important Commons statement of his premiership so far.

Mr Cameron’s personal troubles here are not insignificant. New links between No 10 and the scandal seem to be alleged every day. There are even whispers of tensions at the very top. Some say Mr Cameron’s allies are grumpy that George Osborne isn’t owning up to his role in appointing Andy Coulson; loyalists loyally deny any such thing.

So what does the PM need to do today? What will it take to reassure Tory MPs that, actually, he’s still in control and they can go off to their… Read More

I write this with shaving foam still spattered on my face and shirt. When Rupert Murdoch was struck with a paper plate covered in foam, I was perhaps ten feet away, on the press bench in the Wilson Room of Portcullis House.

Anyone who lives and works in the Westminster bubble is taking a risk when they claim to know what public opinion is, and where it’s moving. SW1A is always a bit detached from the real world, and all the more so when its denizens are excited about one big story.

Here in the village, conventional wisdom has it that David Cameron has had a bad crisis, and Ed Miliband a good one. But there’s something missing here: the polls aren’t really moving. Daily trackers suggest that Labour has retained a lead over the Tories of between 4 and 8 points: solid, but not stunning. And not changing much. (This ICM poll for the Guardian is a good example here)

So what’s going on? Well, one explanation is that us London media-politico types are (once again) disappearing up our own fundaments, obssessing over something… Read More

John Yates has announced his resignation (Photo: Getty)

Another day, another resignation. Events that would once have been seismic have become almost routine. Until we hear more from John Yates himself, I’m reluctant to say much more. Perhaps it’s better to take a step back and count the cost. The butcher’s bill so far: 2 senior policemen; 3 News International executives; 1 national newspaper.

Notably absent from that list so far is anyone from Her Majesty’s Government.

So perhaps it was inevitable that, when Boris Johnson called a press conference to discuss the Yates departure, someone (Michael Crick of Newsnight) asked the Mayor of London whether he believed that David Cameron himself should resign.

Mr Johnson replied:
I’m not here to discuss government appointments. Those questions you must address to government.

I don’t think there’s a… Read More

Give me lucky generals, Napoleon used to say. At least in terms of his travel plans, David Cameron must be feeling like an unlucky prime minister.

Not for the first time, Mr Cameron is in the wrong place today, giving us the spectacle of a British prime minister at a press conference with a foreign leader answering questions about wholly domestic matters. Today it was Pretoria and questions about Sir Paul Stephenson. Two weeks ago, it was Kabul and questions about Milly Dowler.

Mr Cameron’s discomfort about this is visible. Haunted by his decision in 2007 to visit Rwanda instead of his own flooded constituency, the PM is also all too aware that Ed Miliband is using all the agility of an Opposition leader to set the pace. Hence the sudden shortening of the PM’s Africa trip and the move to extend the Commons session until… Read More

Gordon Brown has been on his feet in House of Commons, holding forth on the media. It’s fair to say he’s angry, even a bit shouty. Despite a performance that raised some concerns for his health, he made it to the end, heckled by Tories and applauded by Labour.

Strikingly, Mr Brown said that he was equally angry and shouty about us when he was Prime Minister. So angry, he wanted to do something about what he says are our numerous sins.

“My answer was a full, judge-led inquiry,” Mr Brown said.

Now, you may be wondering why you don’t remember the inquiry Mr Brown set up as PM. Well, that’s because he didn’t set it up.

Why not? Well, Mr Brown has a good answer for that. You see, he asked his civil servants for advice on the… Read More

Andy Coulson gave assurances to the PM (Photo: Getty)

Last week, Mr Cameron was at pains to support Andy Coulson. In the Commons, he said took “full responsibility” for his former communications chief, and later insisted Mr Coulson was “a friend”. He’d be a “pretty unpleasant sort of person” if he simply dumped his former aide, he said last Friday. Mr Cameron’s team tried to present all this as a sign of what a decent, honourable man he was.

Since then, Mr Cameron has endured some of his worst days as PM. While Ed Miliband channelled public anger at the media, Mr Cameron looked like he struggling to catch up. The ordeal continued in PMQs today.

To be fair, Mr Cameron put up a… Read More

Andy Coulson resigned from Number 10 in January (Photo: PA)

The most uncomfortable point of today’s PMQs for David Cameron was when the News of the World phone hacking scandal came closest to home.

The paper in question was, of course, once edited by Andy Coulson. Mr Coulson later went to work for Mr Cameron, first in Opposition and then in Downing Street, quitting No 10 in January. Mr Coulson has always denied any wrongdoing in his previous journalistic roles, and Mr Cameron has always said he accepts that. That position now exposes Mr Cameron to significant political risk.

Illustrating that risk, Ed Miliband told told Mr Cameron that he will never have full public confidence in his ability and willingness to clean up Fleet Street until he accepts that… Read More

Today, on Independence Day, David Cameron found himself addressing US Marines at Camp Leatherneck in Afghanistan. July 4 is a bit of a tricky moment for British leaders, marking as it does a historic military and political defeat for Britain.

For Mr Cameron, whose thoughts on British history have caused him some trouble in the past, it might have been especially difficult.

In the event, the PM found a way through the minefield, raising American smiles by lamenting the failure of Lord North’s ministry to hang on to the colonies for King George.

“Maybe if one of my predecessors hadn’t screwed up so badly, we’d all be one army,” Mr Cameron said, conjuring up on of history’s favourite “What If?” questions.

Not a day goes by that a British minister does not insist that time is running out for Muammar Gaddafi. Inevitably, we are told, the Libyan dictator is heading for the exit. But then what?

On a flying visit to Benghazi earlier this month, I glimpsed some of the concerns about what could happen to the Libyan state when the man who essentially created it is gone.

Since then, those fears have only grown.

James Lyons of the Mirror had some striking language earlier this week, quoting a source as saying:

“I always find myself getting to my knees and praying to God that we don’t bomb Gaddafi that night because what the f*** would we do next?”

Now, a Department for International Development team has reported back to ministers about what could happen next, and what Britain could and should do about that. Despite… Read More