Lies, damned lies and the Leveson Inquiry

Who to believe? That is the question. Whether to go for Gordon 'no more boom and bust' Brown or the opposing side, Rupert Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks. The phrase 'Hobson's choice' springs to Calton's mind. He would certainly like to award full marks to the person at the Leveson Inquiry who asked the great Broon why he and his wife had remained on good terms with Brooks if Brown's assertion that the Sun had published details about their son's medical condition without their permission was correct. That seems to be straining forgiveness (and duty) too far in Calton's opinion. One thing is clear - there are some issues Leveson is never going to get to the bottom of.

Alex - maybe Rupert's just not that into you

It's just as well they call it First Minister's Questions because the opposition leaders certainly weren't getting any answers today when it came to whether or not the First Minister's phone had been hacked. Ruth Davidson suggested that if it wasn't, it was maybe because Rupert had Alex on speed-dial. Calton thinks it far more likely that Murdoch wasn't interested in Salmond's phone conversations. The SNP leader's friendships with the rich and powerful are looking more and more one-sided and Alex is looking more and more like a pathetic lap-dog, in spite of his attempts yesterday to be an attack dog. It will be extremely embarrassing for him if it turns out that News Corp were more interested in his aide, Joan McAlpine, than him.

Get it in writing

Calton finds it hard to believe that a man like Donald Trump actually took politicians at their word, especially when it involved investing large sums of money. Didn't he learn at business school always to get it in writing? (Of course Trump's version of events may not be true - we currently have the unedifying spectacle of businessmen and politicians publicly disagreeing over who said what and when, leaving the public to make up its mind who is the more believable. Calton's money is on Trump and Murdoch.) The one good thing to come out of all this is that the hitherto shadowy world of relationships between politicians and big business is being put under the spotlight. It's not a pretty sight, however, hopefully, the process will result in improved transparency. Rupert Murdoch is wrong when he says that newspapers do not influence elections - they do, and we therefore need to know which politicians are cosying up to which newspaper magnates. After all, if the written word had no influence, Calton would not be writing this blog. Any politicians wishing to cosy up to him should form an orderly queue.

Get the factor 50 on Alex

There is no doubt that newspapers have political influence, however, last time Calton looked, Scotland was still being governed by the majority SNP administration at Holyrood, not Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation. It is therefore a bit of a cheek for the latter to be announcing a date for the independence referendum before the Scottish Government has even finished its consultation on the issue. The new Scottish Sun on Sunday must have really been struggling for a front page headline if that was the best they could come up with. Most peelie-wallie Scots know by now to avoid the sun because, however pleasant it might seem at the time to bask in its rays, the result is always damaging. Alex Salmond take note.

Rupert and the kiss of death

The Calton Hill award for most sycophantic comment of the week year has to go to Rupert Murdoch and his tweet about Alex Salmond. It is so stomach-turning that Calton cannot bring himself to quote it but you can read about it here if you really want to. Had Alex any sense he would quickly be putting some deep blue water between himself and the owner of News Corporation because, if a large ship sinks, it has a tendency to take every vessel within a mile radius down with it, and we haven't forgotten what happened to the News of the World (or Private Eye's brilliant cover on it). Unfortunately the First Minister seems to have been so dazzled by the Sun that he can't see the icebergs dead ahead.