Therese Coffey, DCMS Committee Member, Reacts To Murdoch Phone Hacking Report

Posted: 1/05/2012 16:58 Updated: 2/05/2012 08:13

Tory MP Therese Coffey is currently getting a bit of flack on Twitter, because she was among a minority of MPs on the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee who objected to the claim in their report that Rupert Murdoch was unfit to run News Corporation.

Here's a sample of the kinds of tweets being directed at her.


Chris Curtis
Tories Damian Collins and Philip Davies have major reservations about report too. The damning/defence of Murdoch = politically motivated.


Authority Watcher
RT : Shame to see Suffolk MP saying that Murdoch is a "fit person" to run a company

I meet Coffey at Westminster the afternoon after the explosive report was published. She says she's "not worried about the Twitterati, frankly you've got to do what you think is right".

But because she and other Tories were opposed to some of the key findings of the DCMS report published on Tuesday, she has been accused of being "a Murdoch stooge and all that sort of stuff".

Only anoraks will actually look through the minutes of the report at the very back, but they show that Coffey and fellow Tory Louise Mensch consistently voted against many of the tenets of the report.

It is fair to say that if they'd had their way, the report would have been shorter and more concise. And crucially it wouldn't have had the criticism of Rupert Murdoch.

For Coffey the last-minute arguments among the committee members betrayed a sense that the report would only focus on whether parliament was misled, and thanks to Labour MPs took on a life of its own that wasn't backed up by evidence.

"It was clear there were things going through, regardless of the discussions we'd had throughout the report. And our side [the Tory MPs] certainly talked about some of these things in advance, I'm not going to deny that.

"But we didn't vote as a bloc. On some things we did because we'd kind of agreed in the middle of the inquiry that we wouldn't start going off into all these different areas.

"It's a shame, I think it does dilute the impact of the report, but we've got to get back focussed, as we will do in the new session, when we table our motion about certain individuals being held in contempt of parliament, and the House has to make that decision."

One of the amendments - which ended up in the report and which described James Murdoch's ignorance of the scale of phone hacking at News of the World as "astonishing" - was rejected by Coffey alone. How did she feel being in a minority of one?

"The reason I insisted on a vote on this, it comes down to a view of whether you believe him or not, and the word "astonishing" is so open to interpretation, does it mean incredible? So I said I wasn't prepared to put my name to it. I don't personally think the Murdochs knew what was going on, but other colleagues on the committee believe they did have a fuller understanding."

Tell us: Did the Tories make a mistake in opposing motions attacking Rupert Murdoch?

Coffey reveals that even stronger amendments censuring the Murdochs had been suggested by the committee members, but hadn't been voted on. "Certainly one of the amendments that had been put forward earlier was far more controversial than what went through yesterday"

Was it a Tom Watson amendment?

"Well I'm not going to specify because as you know, these are private meetings. But certainly there had been some changes along the way. The voting record stands for itself. Some of those amendments we had seen before, some of them we saw for the first time on Friday night, when we had agreed a deadline of mid-day on Friday to through it."

I find it slightly odd that the two women on the committee - her and Mensch - voted as a little bloc of their own consistently throughout the report. Did they find it frustrating dealing with the boys?

"I think Louise felt very strongly on certain things, as do I, but I'm not tying to make a big thing about it because genuinely it was very frustrating yesterday," Coffey tells me.

"I've known Louise a long time, since we were at University. We're not best mates, but we were Tories in the late 1980s, and we have similar values I guess. We're both Catholic. I practice... she...well, I don't know how often she practices. We don't have each other's mind but we're both opinionated and forthright."


MPs on the DCMS Committee giving a sparky press conference on Tuesday

The next stage in the process - for it isn't over - is for the committee to agree on a motion which they can then put to the rest of the House of Commons. It could lead to further divisions on party lines.

What I hope is that we agree a motion within the committee," she says. "I think we can do that, it would be odd if it came out of the select committee, a motion on which again we had divided. If the Conservative MPs recommend against the motion from the committee, then it would be a bit weird. So I hope we can come together with some unity, and we just get it through. Which I think would be a way of kind of rescuing what happened in the last 48-hours."

Was committee chair John Whittingdale happy with proceedings today? "In some ways I think he's a little frustrated, there's a great disappointment. People who had not heard the evidence where voting in a certain way, clearly, and were just voting with the party line.

"I do try and take the positives out of this - out committee unanimously summoned the Murdochs, and we have brought things out into the open that otherwise would not have been. It's a shame, but there we go. Hopefully Parliament will re-unite on the motion.

Should Tom Watson remain on the committee? "I don't really mind, but it's fair to say, he only comes for the things that interest him. And he hasn't been to any of the sessions on gambling, one or two on libraries. And actually, we need the committee to function all the time in order to get good inquiries."

Coffey remains proud of her work on the committee, but really hopes its next inquiry is on something that actually affects people's jobs and the creative industry. "I want to get off the Murdochs."

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Tory MP Therese Coffey is currently getting a bit of flack on Twitter, because she was among a minority of MPs on the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee who objected to the claim in their repo...
Tory MP Therese Coffey is currently getting a bit of flack on Twitter, because she was among a minority of MPs on the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee who objected to the claim in their repo...
 
 
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11:53 PM on 05/01/2012
Coffey is simply bloc voting with her Conservative colleagues - a potentially toxic decision given the fallout still raining down about the Conservatives in respect to Murdoch. This will not do her any favours. She's likely to take a justified hit in her Suffolk constituancy with other candidates campaigning on her seeming inability to render a strong enough verdict on Murdoch's behaviour. Regardless of her personal reasons, in the popular view she has sided with the people who hacked Milly Dowler's phone and that wilnot go down well. The Conservative decision - no different to Labour's (although Labour do carry the public with them on this one) - is the worst kind of Groupthink. There is an alternative.
http://thewhiteticket.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/insight-party-politics-and-dangers-of.html
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Drg40
Representative Democracy is all we have.
10:17 AM on 05/02/2012
I suggest you consider that there are echoes of Al Capone's trial here, We know that members of the select committee have reported that they and their families have been hacked, followed and intimidated by persons unknown, but implying that their purpose was to further News International's interests. We know that News International employees have been arrested on charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice and obstructing the police. We know Coulson was an employee of Murdoch whilst working in No10. We know that significant numbers of members of the current cabinet (including dodgy Dave) had wildly unseemly relationships with Murdoch and co.

Now, seen through that lot, what does this report say? Under these circumstances I cannot imagine a more crashing condemnation without being careless of your families safety. Now we turn to the HoC and see what they are made of.
12:09 PM on 05/02/2012
An excellent point Drg40. In the popular perception, isn't Elliot Ness appauded for his efforts to bring down Capone? He risked his family also. If the politicians on the committee aren't up to that then they should excuse themselves in favour of MPs who are capable of going the distance on ay case put before them if required. It seems strange also that the Labour Party members and the Liberal Democrat seemed ready to face that very real danger from Murdoch's publications but the Conservatives weren't. The split was a little too neat. Isn't it much 'more likely' that they received instructions/suggestions from their party top brass to back off anything that might make Murdoch - guilty or not - uncomfortable. Not the kind of people you can trust on the committee or in government. With a greater number of Independents, you are less likely to get such Groupthink and political bargaining.
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casual agent
Advocate for social justice
09:06 PM on 05/01/2012
What a pathetic shower these Tories really are'..They woldn't go that extra mile to condemn that rat Murdoch'Anything to try to save their Pig Headed Posh Toff leader'..So what really was the point of this enquiry.If just a Face-Saver or Delaying Tactics from the Nasty Party.
12:01 AM on 05/02/2012
Yep.
Tories think the same way that a Foreign Parliamentary Member thought about what his Leader said when this Member answered in a TV Interview. - I fully support my Leader, whatever he said.
In America, they call this, - The Cowboy Way, and Boy don't the Tories Act like a bunch of Tonto's.
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casual agent
Advocate for social justice
12:27 AM on 05/02/2012
kemosabe"...lol
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Blockem1
When will our politicians start putting policies
08:11 PM on 05/01/2012
It was clear this was a move to try to protect Dodgy Dave and that Hunt who are now even deeper in the shit.It was sad to see respectable , independent and intelligent MP's have to follow party instructions just to protect individuals who have not been honest with the British Electorate .
09:44 PM on 05/01/2012
"respectable, independent and intelligent MPs" You quite sure about that?
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07:59 PM on 05/01/2012
Whatever the rights or wrongs most people will see Tories supported Murdoch and the others did not. The fact Blair kissed his posterior is of no matter now he has gone, what matters is Cameron who did the same is there and according to a Tory treasurer for 1/4 million pounds he will do your bidding.
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Drg40
Representative Democracy is all we have.
10:25 AM on 05/02/2012
We differ- but only in scale. Thatcher, Major, Bair, Brown and Cameron - in other words thatcher and her spawn - have all done whatever it took to get Murdoch metaphorically into their bed and give him a good time. Just think, it is just possible that this scandal could mark the end of the Blatcherite dynasty. What joy! What untrammelled joy!
ZEB
never fear the zeb is ere
06:37 AM on 05/03/2012
Drg40
If you look at the history of Murdoch takeovers in the british press, you find it all be done over the tories, when in power.
The Times Thatcher
NOTW Thatcher
Sky and BSB Thatcher
Also the reason Murdoch stop backing Labour was GB said no way can he be in all of control BskyB.
What the Murdochs has done, which is very common in America, he played on people fears, also I would like to point out, that when hunt was given the task to look at this take over by sky for all of bsb shares, all the news papers said that he was to close ties with the Murdoch family.
But Cameron did not care, and would have let it though any way, until this exploded up in his face.
07:40 PM on 05/01/2012
they have to support Murdock to try to stop Cameron's links being exposed
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casual agent
Advocate for social justice
01:49 AM on 05/02/2012
Well'..They're certainly going to a lot of trouble trying to hold on to Hunt'.for no reason at all uh?...a little bit more behind this than just nepotism. But didn't we suspect this with Coulson?