Murdoch Is Served (76)

THE SINGING HACKER

And so Glenn Mulcaire faced the inevitable: he has lost his fight not to be forced to tell who it was at the now defunct Murdoch Screws who ordered him to hack all those hundreds (or was it thousands?) of phones. He should worry. The ones who are most likely to experience involuntary bowel movement over the coming days don’t include him. They do include those he may be about to finger.

More cases fetching up right here

That’s for a number of reasons, one of which may well be that some of them are still employed as Rupe’s troops. Another is that they will find themselves on the wrong end of a hail of writs as the lawyers for all those victims turn their fire away from the Murdoch empire and instead decide to pick off its foot soldiers. So there may be some folks facing financial ruin as a result of their past exploits.

What’s worse for the Murdochs, this may well play out as in the effect of a collapsing wall: as the last brick supporting the edifice is kicked away, the whole thing would come crashing down and there would be no stopping it, once the momentum had been achieved. Mulcaire had been that last brick holding up the wall: once he sings, nobody is safe.

And whoever he names is most unlikely to take the rap without in turn calling out more of those at the Screws – unless the Murdochs agree to make it worth their while. So what can Rupe do? The answer is, not very much, apart from attempt to somehow limit the damage, which of course they did with Charlotte Church, and in a particularly nasty way, by threatening to put family members on the witness stand.

Right now, there is only one person – Max Clifford’s former assistant Nicola Phillips – to whom Mulcaire must give the information, but solicitor Mark Lewis has confirmed that there will be more. And this time, most of the press are reporting it, not just the deeply subversive Guardian and the Independent, as previously. This time the Maily Telegraph and even the Mail have carried the news.

Actually, one paper has failed to report on Mulcaire’s court loss. No prizes for guessing that the rag in question, which has not mentioned his name since February, is the Super Soaraway Currant Bun. I’m sure Rupe is grateful to his hacks for their loyalty, but what purpose they serve by putting their fingers in their ears and telling the rest of the world that they can’t hear is not known.

What is known, though, is that the Murdoch empire is sinking slowly, and yet further, into the mire. Way to go, Rupe!