Murdoch: circling the Plughole

by ceebs Wed Aug 1st, 2012 at 03:59:30 AM EST

Rapid maneuvering tonight as News International tries to push back against the possibility of upcoming corporate charges:

News Corporation directors could face charges for neglect of duties | Media | The Guardian

Directors within Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation could face corporate charges and prosecution for neglect of their duties, in plans that are being examined by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Company lawyers, fearing a dramatic escalation of the hacking scandal by criminalising the boards on which Murdoch family members sit, are understood to have protested to the authorities.
A criminal prosecution could have a strong adverse impact on the deliberations by Ofcom as to whether News Corp representatives are "fit and proper" to hold UK broadcasting licences.

If these charges occur, We would be seeing directors and former directors up in front of a judge. And if that happens then the chances of BskyB retaining its fit and proper person test sink dramatically. That is the first domino, as several countries have laws that say if you are found not fit and proper in one country, then you are automatically not fit and proper there also.

In a seperate article there is more trouble for the Tories:

Boris Johnson invites Rupert Murdoch as personal guest to Olympic event | Media | The Guardian

Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, has invited Rupert Murdoch and his wife Wendi Deng as his personal guests to watch Rebecca Adlington defend her 800 metre swimming gold at the 2012 Olympics on Friday.
The tycoon and his wife will sit poolside with the Conservative politician and other business leaders at the high-profile event, for what Johnson describes as his "schmoozathon".
The Guardian understands the invitation was due not just to Murdoch's business role but his investment in British sport through his News Corporation companies, in particular BSkyB, over the years.
But the decision of Johnson, who in his role as mayor has oversight of Scotland Yard, to "schmooze" the News International proprietor while a Metropolitan police investigation into the News of the World phone-hacking scandal involving the company is still under way, provoked dismay among his political opponents.

At the very least this looks corrupt.

Murdoch: circling the Plughole | 12 comments (12 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Murdoch: circling the Plughole (none / 1)

But the decision of Johnson, who in his role as mayor has oversight of Scotland Yard, to "schmooze" the News International proprietor while a Metropolitan police investigation into the News of the World phone-hacking scandal involving the company is still under way, provoked dismay among his political opponents. (Emphasis added)

Dismay in public, glee in private. The only reason for dismay would be were Boris able to stop the train. Good old Boris. What a stand-up guy.

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Tue Jul 31st, 2012 at 07:23:01 PM EST

Re: Murdoch: circling the Plughole (3.50 / 2)

it is an utterly Bizzare move on his part, that can only do damage to him, it's as if Boris is living in the past (stop sniggering at the back)

previous to this he's said the whole affair was rubbish and not worth Investigating, back before the Dowler story came out, so it's not like a new opinion for him, but he usually has a better feeling for the public mood than this

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Tue Jul 31st, 2012 at 08:43:59 PM EST
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Re: Murdoch: circling the Plughole (none / 1)

On the contrary. I admire him. It takes a lot of guts to stand by your friends when they are held up to public opprobrium.

After all, he's been schmoozing with them for years, and it's not as if he didn't know what sort of people they were and what they were up to.

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue
- Queen Elizabeth II}

by eurogreen on Wed Aug 1st, 2012 at 05:09:32 AM EST
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Re: Murdoch: circling the Plughole (none / 0)

If Boris were capable of that deep of a game, he wouldn't have gotten stranded on that zip line.

by rifek on Sun Aug 5th, 2012 at 11:25:09 PM EST
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Re: Murdoch: circling the Plughole (4.00 / 7)

I dunno, it is entirely consistent with Boris' worldview which is that you suck up and kick down. He can regularly be seen on telly defending Barclays, HSBC and the City in general on the principle that they are successful companies and we should just leave them alone to get on doing what they do best, make lots of money.

Being associated with Rupert is just part of that fixation.

He is in the tory tradition of Alan Clark, a minister under Mrs Thatcher. A man who gained notoriety on several fronts, for being racist, a drunk and a serial adulterer. His attitude to Corporate profits, in this case, arms sales, is revealed here

When Clark was Minister of Trade, responsible for overseeing arms sales to foreign governments, he was interviewed by journalist John Pilger who asked him:
JP "Did it bother you personally that you were causing such mayhem and human suffering (by supplying arms for Indonesia's war in East Timor)?"
AC "No, not in the slightest, it never entered my head."
[....]
JP "Doesn't that concern extend to the way humans, albeit foreigners, are killed?"
AC "Curiously not. No."

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Wed Aug 1st, 2012 at 01:44:29 AM EST
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Re: Murdoch: circling the Plughole (none / 1)

Yes, he may have finally buffooned his way into something he can't buffoon his way back out of.

by rifek on Sun Aug 5th, 2012 at 11:29:35 PM EST
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Re: Murdoch: circling the Plughole (4.00 / 2)

several countries have a laws that say if you are found not fit and proper in one country, then you are automatically not fit and proper there also.

May the USA be one of those countries! But Roger Ales is already Chairman of Fox Television Stations, so it might not make too much difference - unless Rupert had to sell, and even then, there seems to be no shortage of rightwing billionaires.

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Tue Jul 31st, 2012 at 10:44:38 PM EST

Re: Murdoch: circling the Plughole (4.00 / 4)

Well curiously, the significant one here is China, which has a law that says if you are found to be not fit and proper in a major market (which it defines as US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia and India, apparently)then you are automatically not fit and proper there either.

This one court case could burn several years and several billion pounds of investment

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Wed Aug 1st, 2012 at 03:10:34 AM EST
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Re: Murdoch: circling the Plughole (3.50 / 2)

And, possibly, one wife.

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Wed Aug 1st, 2012 at 10:05:58 AM EST
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My heart bleeds for Mudrock.

by rifek on Sun Aug 5th, 2012 at 11:26:46 PM EST
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Re: Murdoch: circling the Plughole (4.00 / 3)

We could of course make them pay a decent rate of tax, or indeed, any tax. That'd really upset them

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Wed Aug 1st, 2012 at 01:29:42 AM EST

Re: Murdoch: circling the Plughole (none / 0)

Or we could just beat them with ax handles, which I find more likely.