(Murdoch) Phone Hacking: I Warned No 10 Over Coulson Appointment, Says Ashdown

[WillyT]

Phone hacking: I warned No 10 over Coulson appointment, says Ashdown
Lib Dem peer advised that decision would cause 'terrible damage' after being briefed about NoW former editor's past
Toby Helm and Daniel Boffey
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 9 July 2011 19.22 BST

<snip>

The crisis engulfing David Cameron over phone hacking deepened on Saturday as Paddy Ashdown revealed that he had warned No 10 only days after the general election of "terrible damage" to the coalition if he employed Andy Coulson in Downing Street.

The former Liberal Democrat leader, who had been extensively briefed on details that had not been made public for legal reasons, was so convinced that the truth would eventually emerge that he contacted the prime minister's office.

Ashdown, a key player as the Liberal Democrats agonised over whether to join in a coalition with the Tories, told the Observer that, based on what he had been told, it was obvious Coulson's appointment as Cameron's director of communications would be a disaster.

"I warned No 10 within days of the election that they would suffer terrible damage if they did not get rid of Coulson, when these things came out, as it was inevitable they would," he said.

But Cameron refused to heed the advice and recruited the former News of the World editor, who was arrested by police on Friday over his role in the scandal, to be his right-hand man in charge of the media at No 10.

<snip>

More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/09/phone-hacking-andy-coulson-paddy-ashdown

:kick:

[eleny]

1. Paddy immunizing himself

That Murdoch stink is a career killer.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Not really; Ashdown was one of the cleanest pols, and a probable victim of illegal info gathering

himself:

An investigator who worked for Rees claims he was also occasionally commissioning burglaries of public figures to steal material for newspapers. Southern Investigations has previously been implicated in handling paperwork that was stolen by a professional burglar from the safe of Paddy Ashdown's lawyer, when Ashdown was leader of the Liberal Democrats. The paperwork, which was eventually obtained by the News of the World, recorded Ashdown discussing his fears that newspapers might expose an affair with his secretary.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jun/08/phone-hacking-scandal-jonathan-rees

The first theft came after Mr Ashdown had sought Mr Phillips's advice on 31 May 1990 about his brief relationship with Patricia Howard. Mr Phillips had his recollections of the main points of the conversation typed up and placed in the most secure safe in the cellar of his office.

The paper was stolen in the second weekend of January this year. A photocopy was offered for sale to the News of World on the Monday.

The prosecution alleges that the papers were taken by Simon Berkowitz, 45, a painter and decorator, from Hove, East Sussex. He denies burgling the offices and handling the stolen original of the document. He has, police allege, admitted showing a photocopy of the document to the News of the World.

Rumours about the contents of the stolen paper spread, and Mr Ashdown was forced just before the election publicly to admit that he once had an affair with Mrs Howard.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ashdowns-solicitor-tells-of-weird-pseudoburglaries-1538857.html

Ashdown's career survived his admission of the affair (mainly remembered now for the nickname Murdoch's Sun gave him - 'Paddy Pantsdown'); he stayed a personally popular politician (perhaps because he hadn't previously gone on about 'family values' and so on - it seems the British public don't care that much about politicians' affairs if they're not hypocritical about it).

But Ashdown was a senior negotiator for the Con-Lib Dem coalition talks; he just wanted to see the coalition survive. Similar "ditch Coulson, there's more dirt that will eventually come out" advice was given to the Tories by The Guardian's editor, who was in no way a supporter of them, and whose paper has done most of the work exposing the phone hacking; there are times when people will just try to keep unsuitable people out of public appointments, for the good of their country.

[WhiteTara]

2. I wonder what Murdock had on Cameron. n/t

[malaise]

3. Remember Cameron could not even win a majority

He needed that trash family to nasty up the water for Labour.
Fuck all of them.