NY Times views The Debate

NY Times view on a squalid British affair

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Connections to Murdoch Start to Chafe British Leader

Prime Minister David Cameron spoke Monday in London on public services reform, but faced questions on the hacking scandal.

LONDON — Prime Minister David Cameron is usually the nimblest of politicians, radiating self-assurance and blessed with an almost Reaganesque ability to deflect criticism. But as the phone hacking scandal spreads, Mr. Cameron has been placed in the unaccustomed position of appearing vulnerable and behind the curve.

He has been maneuvered into embarrassing U-turns nearly every step of the way, and on Tuesday performed the latest one: suddenly joining the opposition Labour Party, his bitterest foes, in calling for Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation to withdraw its $12 billion bid to buy British Sky Broadcasting, known also as BSkyB.

Mr. Cameron’s opponents in turn have seized on the chance to inflict damage on the once-unassailable prime minister. The scandal has given new life to the Labour Party and its leader, Ed Miliband, and there are signs, too, of cracks in the governing coalition between the Conservatives and their until-now toothless Liberal Democrat partners. The Liberal Democrat leader, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, on Monday asserted a new independence by heaping moral outrage on Mr. Murdoch and urging him to rescind his BSkyB bid — a full day before Mr. Cameron would do the same. Read more at www.nytimes.com

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