The Police, the Crown Prosecution Service, the Press Complaints Commission, have all opened enquiries. But are we any nearer to the truth? Dispatches: Tabloids’ Dirty Secret, Channel 4 2011
The police confirmed Max Clifford’s phone had been hacked, and the papers settled out of court with him reportedly for a million pounds. Gordon Taylor, Chief Executive of the Professional Footballers Association, also sued, reportedly accepting seven hundred thousand pounds in an out-of-court settlement. ibid.
News International nevertheless stuck to its line that this scandal involved only Goodman and Mulcaire. Until just last month. ibid.
The scandal had entangled a whole host of British institutions from the police to Downing Street to the News of The World’s owner Rupert Murdoch. ibid.
With the resignation of Andy Coulson, the seventy-nine-year-old Rupert Murdoch was suddenly galvanised. ibid.
But News International was not the only organisation in damage limitation mode. The Metropolitan Police were also on the defensive. Their original phone-hacking inquiry aroused fierce criticism. Limited in scope, it raised more questions that it answered. ibid.
Many blame what they see as an unhealthy relationship between the police and the News of the World. ibid.
The more cases that come to court the more pressure will build on Mr Coulson himself and on News International. ibid.
It now looks as if the crisis is spreading beyond the News of the World. ibid.
The Guardian – one of the few papers to cover the story. ibid.
They can also impersonate friends and family. ibid.
The Press Complaints Commission has now set up an investigation to investigate its original investigation. ibid.
Just over two months ago a close friend of Prince Andrew hanged himself in his cell at the Metropolitan Correction Centre in New York. Jeffrey Epstein was accused of being one of the most prolific child abusers of modern times. Now Epstein’s victims are speaking out fearlessly … ‘He abused over 1,000 women’ … ‘Epstein enjoyed a 12 year friendship with Prince Andrew. The Queen’s favourite son stands accused of having sex three times with a teenage girl trafficked by Epstein, once as part of an orgy. We built up the most complete picture yet of the relationship and the Prince, forensically examining Epstein’s address book and flight log, and comparing them against Prince Andrew’s schedule. Dispatches: The Prince & the Paedophile, Channel 4 2019
Why are the British police doing nothing? ibid.
He was also known as Randy Andy. The playboy prince. He had a succession of high-profile girlfriends, and was mocked on the satirical programme Spitting Image. ibid.
Virginia Roberts claimed she had her third encounter with him [Andrew]; it allegedly occurred on the Caribbean island that Epstein had acquired in 1998 called Little St James. ibid.
Across the UK a crisis is building that affects us all: more than three million people are on long-term sickness benefits, up by about a million in less than 5 years. Dispatches: Britain’s Benefits Scandal, Fraser Nelson reporting, Channel 4 2024
Sickness and disability benefits for working-age people cost £48 billion a year. ibid.
GPs are being used effectively to say yea or nay to welfare. ibid.
Penn State University: I received an envelope in the mail one day and so I opened this envelope and powder comes wafting out of it …. all because I decided to study applied Math and Physics and move into Climate Science. Climategate: Science of a Scandal, professor, BBC 2019
Today there is scientific consensus about the threat of catastrophic climate change. Ten years ago, the debate over global warming also seemed settled. Until one event shook climate science to its core. In 2009, over one thousand emails from British climate scientists were hacked and released on the internet. The emails seemed to suggest scientists were exaggerating global warming causing a scandal the media dubbed Climategate. ibid.
The Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia, Norwich: Climate Change 2001: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability … The global temperature graph which partially drew upon CRU data was given a name – ‘The Hockey Stick’. The scientist who constructed ‘The Hockey Stick’ was Mike Mann. ibid.
The FOI campaign against the Climatic Research Unit reached a climax in July 2009. Four months later, an unidentified computer hacker plunged climate science into global crisis. ibid.
The House of Commons Committee published its report on the CRU’s work in March 2010. In the months following, the independent Inquiry also delivered their findings. There was ‘no evidence of any deliberate scientific malpractice’ … ‘The rigour and honesty of the scientists are not in doubt’ … Phil Jones was reinstated as director of the CRU in July 2010. ibid.
For nearly a decade a member of the royal family has been dogged by questions about his friendship with a convicted paedophile. Prince Andrew & the Epstein Scandal, BBC 2019
‘I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady.’ ibid. Prince
‘I let the side down. Simple as that.’ ibid.
She says Epstein first forced her to have sex with the Prince in 2001 in London. ibid.
‘And I admit fully that my judgment was probably coloured by my tendency to be too honourable – but that’s just the way it is. ibid.
I’m an ordinary sort of person. It may be hard to believe but I never longed for the spotlight. But somehow the spotlight found me. The Trial of Christine Keeler I, Christine, BBC 2019
Then I met John Profumo. I’m 19 years old. ibid.
I just wanna have a bit of fun, you know. ibid. Mandy to Christine
MI5 may have been watching Captain Ivanov but to me he was just another one of Stephen’s [Ward] friends. ibid.
You know I could introduce you to a lot more fun. ibid. Stephen to Christine
Chaos seems to follow you wherever you go. ibid.
I am not a bad person. I’m young. And I like to have fun. ibid. Christine
Terrible crimes have been committed. But not by me. ibid.
The most natural instinct there is – the love of a powerful middle-aged man for a penniless girl. Is that a crime? The Trial of Christine Keeler II, Christine’s commentary
Pleasure mixed with danger – I suppose that’s what Jack liked. ibid.
I was a naive little girl with more power that I ever could have dreamed of. But in the end it wasn’t enough to save any of us. There were far bigger powers at work you see. The powers that really make the world go round. And friendships you thought would last for ever just vanished into thin air. Stephen may have been the puppet-master but he wasn’t pulling the strings any more. Not mine anyway. And the people who were, they were set to destroy us all. ibid.
Trapped in a terrible place with no escape … I have no voice. The Trial of Christine Keeler III
And just like that I was someone else. Very Important Person indeed. ibid.
The camera steals your soul. The Trial of Christine Keeler IV, Stephen to Christine
I’d be more than happy to fill you in. ibid. Stephen to journalist, seen by Profumo
All these tarts Ward has buzzing around here. He’s some sort of ponce, isn’t he? Living on Immoral Earnings. ibid. rozzer
Soon we’ll be last week’s news, wrapping up fish and chips. ibid. Jack, pillow talk to trouble-n-strife
If no-one was ashamed, would you get as excited? ibid. Christine to Stephen
The Party’s in a sorry state without me. ibid. Jack to trouble-n-strife
… and then they decided about the crime. The Trial of Christine Keeler V, Christine
Sex makes the world go round: look where that’s got me. ibid. Christine to Stephen
I can tell you like to have fun – we have a future, you and I. The Trial of Christine Keeler VI, Stephen to Christine
Christine Margaret Keeler: I am arresting you on charges pertaining to perjury, conspiracy and attempting to obstruct the course of justice … ibid.
They want to get me, don’t they? They got Stephen, and I’m next. ibid. Christine to rozzer
Justice has nothing to do with the truth. It’s a game. With ridiculous rules. ibid. Brief to Christine
31st March 2001 Roydon, Essex, 05:48 a.m.: ‘A geezer’s drowned in the pool … There’s a party going on and someone’s just gone out and found him … fucking hell. You don’t expect it, do ya?’ Barrymore: The Body in the Pool, 999 call, Channel 4 2020
‘31 year old Stuart Lubbock was found floating in the swimming pool at Mr Barrymore’s home in Essex; he died soon after.’ ibid. TV news
‘Just another night that went terribly wrong.’ ibid. Barrymore
‘I don’t think we really had him down as being gay.’ ibid. ex-Sun reporter