I Admit It: I was Wrong
It's never nice to admit when you got something wrong, but Iain Dale hold his hands up. Make the most of it...
8 Jul 2011, 17:37
Andy Coulson is bloody good at his job. That's why the likes of The Guardian, Alastair Campbell, Prescott and Johnson are doing their best to jump on the back of the New York Times story about an ex News of the World journalist who was sacked by the paper for persistent drug and alcohol problems. You don't think he might have a grudge, do you?Now I certainly don’t recant all of that. It is true that Coulson did a good job for Cameron and so far as I am aware behaved appropriately. He certainly did in my limited dealings with him. I believed Coulson when he said he knew nothing about the phone hacking. A police inquiry had cleared him, so why wouldn’t I believe him? Indeed, I would still like to believe now that he is totally innocent of the charges against him. But he now faces further charges of having authorised payments to the police in return for information received. I would like to hope he won’t have a case to answer, but none of us can know what the police inquiries will result in. It seems that he is destined to become the pin up boy of this scandal, but let’s not forget that he did actually resign his job (twice, as it turned out) which is more than the dreadful Rebekah Wade has managed to do.
They all want Coulson's scalp. Well, sod 'em. The Police investigated this and found that Coulson had nothing to answer for. So did the DCMS Select Committee. Clearly that's not good enough for Campbell and Prescott - those very models of good media practice and personal conduct. Coulson took responsibility for the episode at the time and resigned. What do they want him to do - resign a second time from a job which has nothing to do his previous incarnation?
Whatever people thought of Andy Coulson's appointment back in 2007, over the last four years he has proved himself in the job. He's bloody good at it. His accusers are political opportunists who were part of a government which did far worse things than anything Coulson is accused of. As far as I am concerned they can go to hell. Coulson is innocent until proven guilty.
Where I went wrong, and I apologise for this, is to impugn the worst motives not just of The Guardian but also the various political figures who have pursued this issue with such tenacity. I still believe that one of their initial motivations was political, and they dearly wanted to get Coulson if they could (I exempt Tom Watson from this motive completely, though). But as they dug and dug, what they found led them to a much bigger scalp – that of the whole News of the World newspaper itself.
I remember doing a 5 Live Stephen Nolan programme in which I tore a caller apart for his anti-Murdoch and anti-Coulson agenda. Well, it’s not the Nolan listener who has egg on his face. It’s me. And I am big enough to admit it.
For those who will relish my discomfort, let me tell them this. Several times in recent weeks I have paid tribute on air to both Tom Watson and Chris Bryant for their part in exposing this whole sorry mess. I have pointed out that it just shows that backbench MPs can actually wield both power and influence and effect change. I have little doubt that without Tom Watson, we wouldn’t be where we are today. I’ve interviewed Tom four or five times, for 10 minutes at a stretch, in order to try to understand where he’s coming from. I am totally satisfied in my own mind that he never approached this purely from a tribal viewpoint. Indeed, he told me on more than one occasion that he believed Andy Coulson to be a distraction from the main point. And that is that phone hacking has been prevalent not just in News International papers, but also others. Ask Tom Watson or Chris Bryant if I have given them a fair crack of the whip and I am confident what their answers will be. I do think Chris has erred too far on the partisanry front, but tribal politicians have to be forgiven for that occasionally.
Nick Davies of The Guardian was the journalist who drove it and wouldn't let it drop. He was painted (not by me, I hasten to add) as obsessive by some, but the same was probably said of Woodward and Bernstein. I suspect he will be in line for journalist of the year. His exposure of sharp journalistic practice in his book FLAT EARTH made him many enemies, who will have to eat a bit of humble pie now. That book did more to shed the light on journalistic malpractice than anything, and ought to be required reading for the judge who will lead the public inquiry.
We now have a real opportunity to build a cross party consensus on the future of a free press. The Prime Minister, I think, was sincere in his rather uncomfortable press conference, when he offered to bring Ed Miliband into the discussions. And so he should.
So there we are. The dangers of the blogosphere laid bare. I hold my hands up. I was wrong to express myself in the way that I did and there was more to this than I thought there was. I doubt that admission will satisfy my critics because nothing ever does. But I do believe in admitting I was wrong if the circumstances merit it. And these do.
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Iain Dale
Iain Dale is publisher of Total Politics, MD of Biteback Publishing & presenter of LBC's evening show.
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Comments (18)
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The question is, why is Cameron still so scared of Murdoch? And why is Murdoch so afraid of Rebekah Brooks?
I am not really into conspiracy theories, but all of this reeks.
Too many people know where too many bodies are buried. And they are all running.
Why is Ashcroft raisng cocaine accusations against Tom Baldwin, while the Guardian is saying both Cameron and Osborne's phones were hit by NI to seek info about coke use?
I have no idea, but I have plenty of suspicions.
08/07/2011 18:37Iain - what you should be apologising for is your use of that execrable neologism 'my bad'. Please don't help this example of Britney-speak to spread any further.
08/07/2011 20:03@Paul I've a feeling this story will run and run & we'll realise just why Rebekah wasn't cut off from the company very soon.
08/07/2011 20:21@Ben - Following the events of the last few days, do you still think Prescott is full of hot air? ;)
08/07/2011 20:37You need a facebook share button on your articles. You will get more traffic if we can tell our friends what you have written.
08/07/2011 22:24@Mark - I must say I'm actually surprised at these revelations, especially if it's about to get even worse. Prescott only irritates me when he bangs on about how he was hacked. We don't care, John!
08/07/2011 23:20Like Paul I'm not a member of the tin foil hat club but I can't help feeling there is a hell of a lot more to this than we're being told.
Why is Cameron still worried about Murdoch? the man is now toxic and any influence he had has surely evaporated. Murdoch may be hanging on to Brooks as a human shield but surely her continued presence is causing untold damage to the brand?
Why are the Met police being allowed to investigate cases that involve the corruption of their own officers? Isn't it normal to call in another force?
What a sad and sorry state our country is in. Our political class if full of people who put their own interests before those who they are supposed to represent, our media no longer reports the news but instead uses it's position to further the agenda of the owner or in the case of the BBC the middle class left wing loons it employs. Our public servants want to rule rather than serve and the less said about our police the better. I honestly can't think of a solution that doesn't involve piano wire and lampposts.
09/07/2011 01:34Could Coulson have something on Cameron?
09/07/2011 10:40I think this issue will run through the summer. The thought of seeing (and hearing for that matter) MilibandE smirking mug on the nightly news will be a real turn off. However, Cameron has been a real idiot, surely he should have known Coulson would turn up to be "toxic" at some stage - it's been like an open wound for the left (along with Lord Ashcroft). What is very interesting here though is how far the Police corruption investigation will go and which newpapers will become embroiled - I don't think it will stop at the NOTW for one moment. The genie is out of the bottle! Also sad is how it is tarnishing our reputation abroad - made CBS Evening News last night. We are not a corrupt nation, so it's bringing us all into disrepute.
09/07/2011 10:56I find myself in the same position. I am afraid that this appointment may turn out to be Cameron's Achilles heel. having believed this story was entirely party-politics driven, it is clear now that there is far more to it.
i would like to think that the partisan nature of the debate will lessen over time. all parties and all newspapers are almost certainly implicated.
I also think that the bigger story is the actions of the police. I hope that the officers who were accepting bribes for information are not found to have been involved in the original enquiry.
It is embarrassing for the Uk; we are a lead story across the American media and I imagine the Italians are enjoying not being the corruption story of the EU for once.
09/07/2011 11:47I think it goes to show that one drawback to our (relatively) two-sided, adversarial, system is that there's a tendency to assume that if someone comes up with a view that's contrary to yours, their motives are suspect. The truth is, of course, that we all think we're right, and none of us like to think we belong to 'the dark side'. So you can have two sides of a position and both be wearing white hats. Confusing, or what?
Of course The Guardian's position is tinged by a political position - since when was our press apolitical? - but support for a position that favours greater openness and rooting out some pretty dodgy practices doesn't mean that the practices don't exist. As you point out, it's possible to get these things wrong.
It's clear that most politicians have been laying with dogs, and I suspect few are flea-less.
It's sad that our country is being held up as an example of corruption. The reaction must be, however, to pursue corruption and stamp it out. not pretend that it was a solitary rogue or a one-off aberration. I suspect this is the tip of a very ugly iceberg, and I don't just refer to Murdoch's scorched-earth policy that shows just how desperate he is to win his BSkyB position.
I may be a leftie cynic but I'm sure our country is victim to a lot more corruption than people think. There's no room for complacency if we are to mend trust throughout our democracy. I just hope there's more of us in White hats than them in Black ones.
09/07/2011 13:42The timing of this apology seems odd, I highlighted Iain Dale's Sept 10 post on the Newstatesman website 3 hours before he published this apology.
It is strange Mr Dale fails to acknowledge he libelled Tom Watson in 2009.
http://www.tom-watson.co.uk/2009/05/press-release/
I wonder when Alistair Campbell and John Prescott get their apology?
09/07/2011 16:26Iain, I am not convinced you were entirely wrong.
The Gruaniad is a little like a broken down old security guard at a supermarket. He accuses everyone of being a shop lifter if they look a bit suspect to him, so spends his day challenging perfectly innocent shoppers.
But by the law of averages, eventually, he will stop a genuine shop lifter.
09/07/2011 22:26Iain, How can we Blog with you? You can see our work at www.WakeUpAmericaAndFaceTheDrafon.com
11/07/2011 18:07I feel so stupid......www.WakeUpAmericaAndFaceTheDragon.com
11/07/2011 18:09The thing is Iain, you wouldn't even concede the notion that you could be wrong. You rolled like a steam train over anyone who suggested you were blinded by political loyalty.
It has taken a tsunami of stories, a horrible list of targets and a complete acceptance by all political parties that actions of the tabloids - one in particular - was utterly wrong and headed by two people who still appear untouchable and protected, for you to carry out your volte face.
Perhaps, after giving those people such a kicking and laughing at them along with your blog mates, your apology now sounds a little trite, hmm?
13/07/2011 23:33Yes, Carl, well you personify the word trite. Frankly, there is no apology that would ever be good enough for you, is there?
13/07/2011 23:46Not even worth a touche. Nice rebranding, but the same old Iain. Insults, a bit of derision, a sneer or two.
And a very hollow apology.
Like I suggested before following the libel case, if you ever thought about 'measure twice and cut once' then you wouldn't find yourself in these situations.
But as you passionately insist, you're not a journo and as such wouldn't sully yourself with such pointless behaviour.
PS Quite impressed. You'd normally just delete any comments you didn't like from me. Well done.
14/07/2011 19:41