So, just me that'd bang the red haired one then?

I don't wish to see any changes in the law at all.

What I do demand is that the existing laws are prosecuted to the maximum. Anyone found guilty of illegally accessing mobiles, computers or whatever, should be prosecuted. Anyone found paying public officials for information should be prosecuted, as should the officials in receipt of such payments. By extension, any manager/editor/owner of anyone involved in such illegal activity should be equally or even more severely prosecuted for conspiracy, whether they were actively complicit or not - it should be up to them to exercise sufficient control.

The only mandated change I would like to see is the PCC taking a more robust line with sanctions against miscreant newspapers. If they refuse or prevaricate, they should be abandoned and the press should come under the remit of Offcom.

Oh, one last thing: Rupert Murdoch, his son, Rebekkah Brooks, Andy Coulson and Dominic Mohan should all be placed in public stocks and custard pies sold to the public for £5 each, the proceeds being shared between The Terrance Higgins Trust, The Prostitiutes Collective, Amnesty International and any other charity that has previously been villified by the Murdoch press.

When you say 'custard pies' you really mean 'house bricks dipped in shi[it[/i', right?

Can somebody just clear something up for me??

We know politicians are corrupt. We now know for certain (though we suspected for years anyway) that those looking to expose those corrupt politicians, are actually even more corrupt than those they wish to point the finger at.

Soooooooooo......Is democracy, a free press, and all the trimmings that go with it, actually a pile of garbage??

From an untrained eye's point of view, it all seems like one big racket, where everybody is in it for themselves??

And we want to foist all this on all those countries we like to invade and fight wars with, all on the premise that 'our system' is superior to theirs??...

Thats just about it.

But you missed off policemen too.

Aren't they young these days?

They've been young for years.

But it's still a little disconcerting when you feel obliged to escort a copper across the road because he doesn't appear capable of completing the task alone.

Its not so long ago when one of my mates, who joined the WYPolice in 1978, felt the same way about female police officers.

[url=http://www.channel4.com/news/former-detective-tells-inquiry-about-tabloid-surveillenceWonder why the Beeb made little to no reference to this?[/url

On a lighter note and in true Doris Stokes stylee, it appears that Rebekah Brooks's borrowed nag has now started tweeting [url=https://twitter.com/#!/RebekahsHorse@rebekahshorse[/url

It slipped under yesterday's radar a tad, but it takes the entire story to a whole new level.

[url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17209375And James Murdoch has resigned from his position as chief executive at News International.[/url

Possibly tipped off he's about to get a knock on the door?

I assumed that Rebekah got the horse as she likes to impersonate Lady Godiva in her spare time. Is that not right?

That's certainly doing the rounds as a rumour. Presumably as opposed to the previous polite requests to attend a police station that were handed to a number of senior News International figures.

Excuse me while I poke out my mind's eye.

Still just me then?

And Ross Kemp.

And Charlie Brooks (not Janine from Eastenders)

I caught last night's That Sunday Night Show and although Adrian Childs is not my cup of java, he had that odious tw[ia[/it Paul McMullan, ex journo from NotW. Well worth watching on [url=http://www.itv.com/itvplayer/video/?Filter=That%20Sunday%20Night%20ShowITV player[/url, he appears about 9 minutes 30 seconds in. He really is a nasty-minded creep

I thought Frank Skinner did a better job. Made him look a right tit.

[url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/baby-p-father-wins-75000-damages-7537219.htmlSeems it's not only News International who are massive dicks.[/url

"The natural father of Baby P has been awarded £75,000 against the publishers of The People after being wrongly described as a sex offender convicted of raping a 14-year-old girl."

And yet they want to appeal because they think the damages awarded are 'disproportionate'. Don't want to pay out £75k? Don't accuse someone of being a paedophile without evidence.

All media organisations have made mistakes – that should be obvious. Their behaviour over this seems frankly pathetic to me. I think the judge was correct in saying what an appalling accusation it is.

But I do think that what we're finding out is that there was a culture of – not even sloppiness or lack of fact checking etc – but a culture of corruption and criminal activity that existed in at least two titles from the same stable.

And, as I have mentioned, it may well not be a coincidence that this stable was one that had barred independent trades unions and replaced them with a compliant, in-house 'staff association'.

I think as far as mistakes go, this one is inexcusable. I mean, it's not like they wrongly accused someone of shagging Jordan, or anything. If you're going to go to print with an accusation of paedophilia, you check and double check you have your facts 100% right. Unless you don't care one jot about whose life you might ruin if you get it wrong, as long as you sell papers.



I'd say it was bordering on immoral. Paying up without causing their victim any more suffering is the very least they could do, given the nature of the allegations. If anything, I thought the damages were on the low side.