Murdoch Meddling - Worse Than Russia

While our free and fearless press woke up overnight to the threat of Russian interference in the UK’s various democratic processes, with the Daily Mail being particularly righteous, one rather worse and indeed longstanding stain on our politics has remained untouched and untroubled, despite a BBC2 documentary which yesterday evening demonstrated its insidious infiltration of the body politic. But then, this is one of the press’ own.

The security agencies registered a threat from Russia in 2014. But 45 years before that, Rupert Murdoch, who was not born in this country and has never had the right to vote here - he is now a citizen of the USA - established his presence in the UK via his acquisition of the News of the World and Sun titles. He reassured the owners of the latter “he would publish a ‘straightforward, honest newspaper’ which would continue to support Labour”.

Within a decade, the Sun had become a rabidly Thatcherite paper. It only switched sides, to supporting a Labour Party led by Tony Blair, after Blair had won over Old Rupe. After Young Dave schmoozed the Murdoch circle, the Sun backed the Tories. Such was the fear instilled in politicians that they all wanted to pay fealty at the Murdoch altar.

This singularly unhealthy situation meant the Murdoch press got away with its indulgence in The Dark Arts. David Mellor suggested tougher press regulation; the flat where he met his mistress Antonia de Sancha was bugged and he was duly splashed all over the Screws and Sun, courtesy of Southern Investigations (prop Jonathan Rees) and “Fake Sheikh” Mazher Mahmood. Was it legal? Who cared? They could please themselves.

The Sun destroyed the career of Labour leader Neil Kinnock. It eventually destroyed the Tories’ John Major. It destroyed the chances of Gordon Brown. It was in the vanguard of destroying Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn. Meanwhile, those in the service of the Sun and Screws not only bugged, they entrapped, bribed, blagged, hacked, rifled dustbins, improperly accessed the Police National Computer, medical and bank records, doorstepped, put tails on their targets, then bullied, strong-armed and humiliated them in print.

When former Labour MP Tom Watson described the Murdoch empire as a “Mafia organisation”, he was right. When Gordon Brown claimed to have had personal information about him extracted for the Murdoch press’ use by blagging, he was also right, This organisation has not yet matched Russia on assassination, but otherwise is far more of a threat to the UK’s democratic institutions than Moscow.

Murdoch dislikes the EU; the UK is now leaving it. He (and, indeed, other proprietors) doesn’t want to adopt the Leveson recommendations on press regulation reform; the Tories have abandoned the promises they made on the subject. Had the phone hacking scandal not broken when it did, he would have taken 100% control of BSkyB - with the approval and even encouragement of Jeremy Hunt (the former Culture Secretary).

As Hugh Grant put it when interviewed for The Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty, “Murdoch’s a proper danger to liberal democracies … if liberal democracy is your thing”.

Liberal democracy is forever devalued if those elected allow themselves to become corrupted by interests who would rather subvert it for their own ends. Just a thought.

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