Blog articles tagged with Tom Watson

How I introduced David Cameron to Andy Coulson

by Ian Kirby / 09 May 2012 12:22

Almost seven years ago, I introduced David Cameron to Andy Coulson. None of us knew then, as we bonded over crab cakes at Christopher’s Restaurant just off the Strand, what the real consequences of that meeting would be.

A simple lunch was the first stage in an extended mating ritual that would ultimately lead the fresh-faced Tory leader into the Chipping Norton set, and the clutches of News International. For Andy, it was

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Tom Watson on phone hacking and stepping down

by Oliver Wiseman / 19 Jan 2012 13:33

“I like film, I like karaoke, I like football matches.”

This is why Tom Watson joined the culture, media and sport select committee in 2009, as the Labour MP told the Hansard Society yesterday.

In a speech titled ‘Parliament and the phone hacking scandal’, Watson revealed that when he took up his place on the committee, he had been “99% certain” he would stand down at the 2010 election.

“I was

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Is Tom Watson still loved by his people?

by Dan Hodges / 18 Nov 2011 14:27

Memento Mori. The halo has slipped. Tom Watson is mortal.

Some have had their doubts. In the middle of Labour conference a small group of MPs were enjoying lunch in Liverpool’s Albert Dock, when they spotted Rupert Murdoch’s nemesis on the opposite side of the quay. “Shall we tell him to swim over?”, one of them joked. “Swim?” his colleague replied. “Tommy should be able to walk it.”

Until two weeks ago

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Solving the Middle East crisis with cheesecake

by Gráinne Maguire / 28 Sep 2011 09:30

Day three and conference is beginning to feel like Glastonbury. My guide is battered mess of ringed events I’ve missed, I keep losing my friends and I’ve started using wet wipes. I’ve still to see any speeches in the main hall, the conference equivalent of the pyramid stage. I had planned on going to see Ed’s big speech today, but it transpires, political events are not like queing for Westlife tickets. You can’t just

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Cameron isn't out of danger yet

by Caroline Crampton / 20 Jul 2011 12:32

“Stop hunting feeble conspiracy theories and start rising to the level of events.”

Thus David Cameron accused Ed Milband of chasing shadows, marking the start of what was clearly intended to be a fightback on the phone hacking issue after the prime minister’s absence in Africa over the past few days.

His statement was short and to the point, and included quite a bit of detail about the remit of the

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