I read Nick Davies's Flat Earth News a couple of years ago and thought I couldn't possibly be any more shocked by how the British press operate (not just Murdoch's titles), but it's been truly astounding to witness each day's new set of revelations over the past 8 days - and quite unsettling to see the extent to which politicians were apparently cowed. It's a strange time.
The latest: Gordon Brown (who's son has cystic fibrosis):
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I had my bank account broken into. I had my legal files effectively broken into. My tax returns went missing at one point. Medical records were broken into. I don't know how this happened. I do know that in two instances, there is absolute proof that News International hired people to do this and the people who are doing this are criminals, known criminals in some cases with records of violence and fraud.
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At the risk of citing "a source"...
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Gordon insisted - despite a heavy brow-beating from Rebekah - that he was not willing to let his son's medical condition be the stuff of a Sun exclusive. So he put out a statement on PA to spike their scoop and make clear that despite his condition, Fraser was fit and healthy. The Sun were utterly furious, and Brown's communications team were told that if Gordon wanted to get into No10, he needed to learn that was not how things were done.
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I've always known the tabs had a corrosive, poisonous effect on political life, but I had no idea that the press could have such a paralysing effect on parliamentary democracy itself. To hear Cameron now admitting "we were all in this together" and oily slimeballs like Mandelson admitting "we were scared" just beggars belief.