All Hail Saint Rebekah The Innocent

Now it has been officially confirmed: Creepy Uncle Rupe has bestowed on his favourite, the twinkle-toed yet domestically combative Rebekah Brooks, the plum job as CEO of News UK, just four years after she resigned, taking with her the merest enhancement to her remuneration of £14 million. Accompanying this news has been the recruitment by the Sun of the singularly unpleasant Tony Gallagher as its new editor.

Ms Brooks clearly ecstatic at the news

Much has been made of Ms Brooks’ acquittal at the Hacking Trial, but rather less of her defence, which was that she did not know what was going on, thus admitting her ineptitude. Moreover, some evidence, like her admission to a Commons select committee that she had overseen payments to serving Police officers - which is illegal - was ruled to be inadmissible. But what the heck, she was innocent, and all was therefore well.

And how time had flown since she left: James Doleman observed “Seems like only yesterday she was resigning in disgrace”. Meanwhile, Mr Ceebs had a question about that payoff: “does she have to give back some of the cash payout she got? Or was it a very very well paid holiday?” But help was at hand as Piers Morgan weighed in grovelingly on Ms Brooks’ behalf. In fact, he weighed in rather a lot.

First came the mild sarcasm: “Woman found innocent on all charges gets old job back. 

Shocking!” Sir Sean was funnier. Then came crowing: “Best thing about Rebekah Brooks' comeback is knowing how many people it will annoy. Talent 1, Jealous Wastrels 0”. Oh, to reinvent Towering Incompetence as “Talent”. But he wasn’t finished.

Back came Piers: “Congrats @davedins on new COO job at News UK after excellent editorship of @TheSun And to new Sun editor @gallaghereditor, talented guy”. Verily, this man is a bit of a crawler. Lawyer Mark Lewis brought matters back to earth sharpish as he asked “Welcome back #RebekahBrooks What did you mean when you said we'd know more in 12 months time? What was it?” What indeed. I doubt we’ll find out any time soon.

And as to what the rest of the Murdoch faithful thought of Ms Brooks’ return, Channel 4’s Hayley Barlow brought a little reality to proceedings: “Number of former News of the World staff turning down interview requests on Rebekah Brooks reappointment: ‘Sorry no, I'd have to be honest!’” She was not, when the Screws was closed, well-liked.

The Guardian’s Lisa O’Carroll had more on Piers Morgan’s “Talent” claim: “Brooks on the other hand is chief of schmoozing, touchy feely, intuitive and charm personified. Full of empathy for people (when she wants)”. And, by many accounts, shouty tantrums for the rest. Peter Jukes also had a reminder of that “Talent”: “In any normal company, failing to spot industrial scale bribes and hacking  on your watch would be sackable. In News Corp, it's rewarded”. Well, it’s rewarded if you’re still headmaster’s pet.

I understand Piers Morgan sticking with his pals. It’s what the tabloid press do. But what makes Rebekah Brooks worth re-hiring as News UK CEO, like a lot of what happened during the last days of the Screws, is shrouded in mystery. For now, at least.