David Cameron is let off lightly... again

Today an opportunity arose for David Cameron’s opponents to make the PM suffer over the phone hacking scandal, and his association with some of the main pantomime villains. The problem, again, is that Miliband has failed to make anything stick. His main line of criticism has been that hiring Andy Coulson, who has been arrested for his part in the fiasco, was a “catastrophic error of judgement”.

Maybe so, but it’s been all too easy for Cameron to deflect this barb by saying he sought assurances about Coulson’s involvement before giving him a second chance after this resignation from the News of the World. The leader of the opposition cannot realistically expect to claim any kind of moral high ground when it was his party that brushed this scandal under the carpet a few years ago. Indeed, as Cameron pointed out today, Murdoch can be quoted as saying the politician he was closest to was Gordon Brown… to whom Red Ed was an advisor when he worked in the Treasury!

It is also worth sparing a word to highlight just how embarrassing the questioning of James and Rupert Murdoch by yesterday’s Parliamentary Committee was. Firstly, the line of enquiry itself was toe-curlingly granular for two such high level executives. To ask them questions about the procedure a middle manger would need to follow in order to authorise small payments was either naïve or very hopeful. In that regard, it was a disappointing show from our elected representatives, reminiscent perhaps of the grilling Tony Hayward received over the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (but far more petty). Of course, the Metropolitan police then further covered themselves in glory by allowing a lunatic with a plate full of shaving cream past their security cordon. It is embarrassing enough that a member of the British public would think to attack Rupert Murdoch whilst facing interrogation… that our embattled police couldn’t prevent it is the icing on the cake.

Ed Miliband's weakness in opposition is now becoming boring

With the arrest of Andy Coulson confirmed as part of the ongoing mess surrounding News International, one man in particular should have been sweating nearly as much as the former editor himself. That man is the Prime Minister, David Cameron, who had employed Coulson as his ‘Director of Communications’ (read: Chief Spin Doctor) until the phone hacking scandal last reared its head at the beginning of the year. How can the PM’s credibility survive such close association with one of the country’s most currently hated men?
 
If things continue the way they are, the answer to the question is, “very easily”. Such a potential PR disaster is a gift to the opposition leader, Ed Miliband. However, his reaction to this whole affair has been fairly muted given the potential for political hay-making. A full and frank admission of “guilt” from Cameron earlier today appears to have wrong footed Miliband; he has been pre-empted and outgunned in what should have been a rare chance to put the boot in.
 
Miliband’s comment that the PM, “clearly still doesn’t get it” is slightly wide of the mark. The criticism refers to the fact that Cameron hasn’t personally intervened to make sure that the News Corp buyout of BSkyB doesn’t go ahead. He should know that Cameron no longer has any power here; Ofcom would have to be the adjudicator on any potential ‘fit and proper’ owner test since Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt green-lighted the takeover in March.
 
This isn’t the first time the younger Miliband has looked a bit out of his depth. His cringe worthy speech to protesters at the TUC rally in March showed a shameless appetite for the lowest common denominator. This is to speak nothing of Labour’s utter refusal to answer questions about where they would make cuts to public spending (and they do admit some are necessary). A toothless, and seemingly clueless, opposition is a sure fire recipe for political apathy. Let’s hope Miliband can develop a personality sooner rather than later.