Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Monday, November 05, 2012

Cameron's horseplay texts with Rebekah Brooks: Intimate messages from PM reveal he likes his 'fast, unpredictable ride'

New details of intimate texts exchanged between David Cameron and disgraced media boss Rebekah Brooks have been obtained by The Mail on Sunday.

In one message, the Prime Minister thanks the former News International chief for letting him ride one of her family's horses, saying it was 'fast, unpredictable and hard to control but fun'.

In another, a gushing Mrs Brooks tells Mr Cameron that she felt so emotional listening to his Tory conference speech she 'cried twice', adding: 'Will love "working together".'

The messages, with their horseplay tone, are part of a cache of texts and emails handed over to Lord Justice Leveson's inquiry into media ethics by Downing Street and Mrs Brooks. Only a very small number of the messages have so far been made public, leading to claims of a cover-up by No 10 and the inquiry.

A furious Mr Cameron rejected a Commons demand by Labour MP Chris Bryant two weeks ago to  disclose all the texts and emails exchanged with Mrs Brooks, the former chief executive of Rupert Murdoch's News International, which is at the centre of the phone hacking scandal.

Her husband, racehorse trainer Charlie Brooks, is an Old Etonian chum of the Prime Minister.

Mr Bryant suggested Mr Cameron's refusal was because the messages were 'too salacious and embarrassing for you'.

He rounded on the Prime Minister: 'When the truth comes out, you won't be smiling.'

When livid Mr Cameron refused to reply, Mr Bryant, himself a phone hacking victim, accused the Prime Minister of a 'hissy fit'.

To add to the intrigue, Mr Bryant claims to have had contact with a No 10 'mole' involved in compiling Mr Cameron's texts and emails, whom the MP says has confirmed their 'salacious' nature.

The Mail on Sunday obtained details of two embarrassing texts exchanged between Mr Cameron and Mrs Brooks, who awaits trial next year on charges of phone hacking and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Both texts were sent in October 2009, shortly after Mrs Brooks left her job as editor of The Sun and became chief executive of News International, which owns the paper.

In one, Mr Cameron writes: 'The horse CB [Charlie Brooks] put me on. Fast, unpredictable and hard to control but fun.' He signed off 'DC.'

In another, sent after his speech to the Tory conference, Mrs Brooks said: 'Brilliant speech. I cried twice. Will love “working together.” '

They shed further light on the extraordinarily close relationship between Mr Cameron and Mrs Brooks, both members of the so-called 'Chipping Norton set' based around their Oxfordshire homes.

Mrs Brooks told the Leveson Inquiry earlier this year that Mr Cameron signed some of his missives to her 'LOL' – until she told him it meant 'Laugh Out Loud,' not 'Lots Of Love'.

The light-hearted tone of Mr Cameron's leaked text echoes the way he reportedly congratulated Mr Brooks when he started his relationship with Mrs Brooks, saying: 'You'd better not mess this one up, Charlie. It's the most important ride of your life.'

Today's fresh disclosures are bound to lead to further Labour demands that all messages between the pair are made public so the true nature of their relationship can be seen.

Mr Cameron and Mrs Brooks met 22 times in a six-year period, an average of once every three months. Mrs Brooks said that at the height of the phone hacking scandal he sent her a morale-boosting 'keep your head up' message, and expressed his regret he could not be more loyal to her in public.

Mr Cameron has gone out of his way to play down his connection with 44-year-old Mrs Brooks.

He was caught out when it was revealed he had ridden a retired police horse, Raisa, lent to Mrs Brooks by the Metropolitan Police.

The disclosure came amid claims that News International paid backhanders to police while pressuring them not to investigate phone-hacking. The Prime Minister spent days trying to deny having ridden  Raisa, but eventually admitted  it and was forced to make a grovelling apology – in the middle of  an EU summit – for trying to  conceal the fact.

It seems unlikely Mr Cameron was referring to Raisa in the newly leaked text, as the horse was 22 years old when lent to Mrs Brooks by the Metropolitan Police in 2008 and would have been put down otherwise. The animal is now dead.

The 'horsegate' saga was not the first time Mr Cameron had tried to cover up his horse-riding exploits with the Brooks.

The Mail on Sunday was told as far back as 2010 that he had been riding with Mr Brooks.

The Prime Minister's then head of communications, Andy Coulson, issued a flat denial and this newspaper dropped the story.

Mr Coulson, who had succeeded Mrs Brooks as editor of the News Of The World before being appointed by Mr Cameron, was forced to quit No 10 in January 2011 over the phone hacking scandal. He now faces criminal charges, too.

It is believed the Leveson Inquiry also has unpublished texts and emails between Mr Cameron and Mr Coulson. Lord Justice Leveson ordered Mr Cameron and Mrs Brooks to send a vast amount of  correspondence, including emails and texts, to the inquiry, but only a small number were published.

The inquiry's lead QC, Robert Jay, said he would only use 'relevant' texts and emails.

The new leaked texts are believed to have been supplied to the inquiry by Mrs Brooks.

Among the texts disclosed during the inquiry was one sent by Mrs Brooks to Mr Cameron on the eve  of his Tory conference speech in October 2009.

In it, she gushed: 'I am so rooting for you tomorrow and not just as a personal friend but because  professionally we're definitely in this together.'

Referring to another issue, she said: 'Let's discuss over country  supper soon.' It concluded, excruciatingly, 'Speech of your life? Yes  he Cam!'

Crucially, the first line of the text, said to be 'humorous', was not read out on the grounds it was 'not relevant'. The two texts published today by The Mail on Sunday were not revealed either.

Mrs Brooks's 'I cried twice' text, was sent immediately after the speech, in which Mr Cameron spoke movingly of the death of his  disabled son, Ivan.

The Prime Minister's text about riding one of her husband's 'fast, uncontrollable' horses was in the same month.

A No 10 spokesman said: 'The PM has always been happy to comply with whatever Lord Justice Leveson has asked of him.'

An insider said: 'These new texts are of no great significance.'

A spokesman for Lord Justice Leveson said: 'We have no comment.'  A well-placed inquiry source added: 'Only communications deemed relevant will be published.'

Mrs Brooks declined to comment.

Original Article
Source: daily mail
Author: Simon Walters

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