Why Cameron daren’t cast Murdoch adrift

Lovely Observer column by Nick Cohen.

The greatest fear is among the Conservatives. Murdoch’s decision to release emails that showed how Jeremy Hunt’s adviser was facilitating News Corporation’s takeover of BskyB was a taste of what may come. Not just Hunt, but Cameron and George Osborne were complicit in promising sweetheart deals to News Corporation. Coulson, Brooks, James Murdoch and Rupert Murdoch know it. What is more, the Tory leadership suspects they can prove it.

We are in the absurd position where the Conservatives dare not stop fawning over Murdoch now for fear that he will reveal how they fawned over him in the past.

Cameron could end the absurdity in a day. He might ally with Labour and the Liberal Democrats and take the best opportunity in years to establish the new system for regulating media monopolies Britain will need as Google and the other net giants grow. That he lacks the bravery to seize the moment tells you all you need to know about the littleness of the man.