Amidst the almost hour-by-hour developments in the phone hacking scandal questions are now being asked over the SNP’s links to Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.
Amidst the almost hour-by-hour developments in the News International phone hacking scandal questions are now being asked over the SNP’s links to Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.
Reports over the weekend suggest Scottish Labour have submitted a list of 25 questions for Alex Salmond’s government and party to answer, including when the first Minister last met with James Murdoch the News International chairman, as well as how much the SNP spent on advertising with the company in the past four years.
Outlining the party’s rationale, Scottish Labour’s business manager, Paul Martin, argued:
“There are a lot of unanswered questions over the SNP’s links with News International. Throughout the entire phone hacking scandal Alex Salmond has ditched his usual megaphone diplomacy and has been uncharacteristically silent.
“Alex Salmond has desperately attempted to come across as whiter than white by keeping schtum and resorting to his default position of blaming Westminster.
“He would clearly rather we all ignored the fact that he personally met with James Murdoch, wined and dined the editor of the Scottish News of the World and provided free articles and advertising to News International newspapers worth thousands of pounds.”
Responding, a spokesman for Alex Salmond dubbed Labour’s effort’s “nonsense”, explaining:
“This is embarrassing nonsense from Paul Martin – he obviously doesn’t let the facts get in the way of a bad press release.
“For example, the first minister was on record at a press conference last week calling on Rebekah Brooks to step down, and also gave numerous broadcast interviews supporting the Commons motion – of which the SNP was a co-sponsor – calling on News Corp’s BSkyB bid to be withdrawn.”
Scotland on Sunday, meanwhile, reports Labour are putting further pressure on the SNP’s links to News International after finance secretary John Swinney and his wife, Elizabeth, gave an interview with the Scottish Sun on Saturday in which the pair spoke of Elizabeth’s battle with multiple sclerosis.
Arguing it was further proof of the SNP’s links with the Murdoch empire, a spokesman for Scottish Labour said:
“There are clearly countless examples of the cosy relationship that exists between SNP ministers and News International. Scottish Labour will continue to ask the uncomfortable questions over the SNP’s links with News International. It is clear the special relationship between the SNP and News International is still alive and well.”
Describing Labour’s attack as “tasteless”, however, the finance secretary’s spokesman sought to highlight Labour’s links with News International, arguing:
“Labour’s remarks are tasteless and hypocritical in the extreme – what exactly are they objecting to?
“The Sun interview about John Swinney and Elizabeth Quigley living with MS and having a new baby was conducted in April – or some two months before Ed Miliband, Ed Balls and Douglas Alexander were quaffing champagne and oysters with Rupert Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks at the News International summer party in London.”
The development’s came as it emerged Mr Salmond has asked UK’s culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, to enable the public inquiry into hacking to be led by Lord Justice Leveson to consider the 2006 report by the Information Commissioner which outlined an extensive illegal trade in confidential personal information and made recommendations to government and industry.
Explaining that his government would be providing Westminster with a full document responding to the proposed public inquiry, the first minister said:
“We welcome the judge-led public inquiry announced last week into the appalling hacking activities uncovered and other illegal press practices, and are calling for its terms of reference specifically to include inquiring into the Information Commissioner’s Operation Motorman report of December 2006 – which documented breaches of data protection laws across a range of newspaper titles – and why no action was taken despite tough recommendations.”
14 Responses to “SNP and Labour trade blows over Murdoch links”
Left Foot Forward
SNP and Labour trade blows over #Murdoch links: http://bit.ly/qO6REz reports @EdJacobs1985 #phonehacking #hackgate
Matthew Little
It's about time these hypocrites got called up on this. They are just as involved with Murodoch as DC is. http://bit.ly/pYigxI
Brian Innes-Will
The (rapidly vanishing) perception of prestige, unshakable authority and the apparent solidity of UK institutions used to be an insurmountable barrier to the Independence movement. There used to be substance in the parrot calls of ‘stronger together’ etc.
The British state has methodically and successfully stripped itself of the aura and reality of strong central authority, credibility and deeply respected and respectable institutions.
Former symbols of British identity and unity have been removed, privatised, downsized, demolished and have had their mystique and credibility destroyed.
The rot began at the head:
Dysfunctional monarchical family.
Cynical manipulative PMs. and ethics/principles-free politics.
Interchangeable ‘free enterprise’ platforms of the major political parties.
Parliamentary snouts in trough scandals.
House of Lords turned into a ‘buggins-turn’ joke factory.
Corrupted taxation system creating non-dom and other exemptions for the privileged.
The sheer incompetent stupidities of the military machine – MOD can’t account for three billions of materiel, etc. Aircraft carriers that don’t.
Chronically unbelievably incompetent management of finance and the economy.
The banksters fiascos.
Now the police are mired in sleazy connections and suspected cover ups for the media.
One by one the pillars of the British establishment have crumbled into a picture of decadence, decay, ever-diminishing credibility and complete loss of trust and respect.
The trouble is that being involved in the slow motion train crash and committed to their party loyalties Labour activist are too close to the picture and too engaged in short term focus to see that the British Union is falling to bits in just the same ways that ensured that the Soviet Union went from world leader/rooster to feather duster in three short years.
What is missed is that Scots voters are not so emotionally engaged. They have the detachment and distance to stand back, watch the slide from ‘Broken Britain’ to ‘Completely Irreparable Britain’ and no matter what desperate little deflection attacks like this are directed at the SNP, the voters can see, sense and trust the SNP in ways that Labour can never recapture – unless there is the equivalent of a ‘Scottish Reformation’ of a truly Scottish Labour Party.
Keep going about things the same old ways – and you end up where you are pointed.
Just thought you might need the insight.
Martha Home
sdf
Martha Home
Dear Brian,
I am not sure of how you evidence your above claims, it just seems like you want to have a rant. In reality, and perhaps a cooler moment for you, you will realise that the time in which much of what you claim has been reported the UK was lead by Scotsmen (Blair, Brown). I also am appauled at what created the financial crisis and the huge problem that it has now left us all with (the cuts are no fun in England, Wales and Northern Ireland). Unfortunately, the reality is that the biggest failures where both Scottish banks: RBS and HBOS. Furthermore, remember that talk from the first minister of Scotland about how he thought it should one of the ‘celtic tigers’ like Ireland and Iceland. Hmmm, I think your problems may be closer to home than you realise and Scotland may have had a lucky escape….