Should David Cameron resign?

I mentioned this aspect of the hacking story briefly yesterday, but Polly Toynbee takes it up very effectively.

But is there more to come? The Mail on Sunday reported that Cameron intended to hire the BBC's Guto Harri as his press secretary. So close, apparently, was the appointment that the Harri family visited the Camerons one weekend in 2007 at Chipping Norton to discuss it, but the job went to Andy Coulson after Rebekah Brooks "is said to have told Mr Cameron that the post should go to Mr Coulson to strengthen links between the Tories and News International". Is this true? Reviewing the papers on the Andrew Marr programme on Sunday, I pointed out this story and said Harri was well-known in the BBC as a straight-as-a-die, honest man. I was pleased to get a text from Harri just after the show saying "Thanks". Does that mean it is true? I called Harri, who now works for Boris Johnson, to check. Yes, he said he'd heard tell that his name was not acceptable to News International. "I heard it as gossip on the grapevine – but I have no idea whether or not it's true. Yes, I did talk to David Cameron about taking the job – but whilst I lingered they'd clearly approached Andy Coulson." He had a good idea who the source from the Sun was for the story. How Cameron must wish he had given Harri the job. The idea that News International planted their man in the heart of Downing Street is truly shocking.

If this is true, then the Prime Minister has to resign. You can't have the man running the country choosing taxpayer-paid officials according to how acceptable he is to a particular media company.

A Bad Day on Mount Olympus

What an amazing Friday. Shadow Chancellor resigns yesterday and the personal stuff starts coming out. Tony Blair being grilled on his little evasions and lies to the Iraq Inquiry, and now Andy Coulson, David Cameron's criminal press advisor resigns - he says it's because he's become the story, but I suspect it's really because his fingerprints are all over the News of the World's illegal phone-hacking. You don't, as an editor, receive scoops week after week without wondering if there's any connection between them and the large amounts of money you're paying an expert in phone-hacking. To put it mildly.

The only problem with all this is that there won't be proper coverage of all of them, especially Blair, whose Messianic Manichaeanism deserves the full glare of public contempt. No doubt the principals of all these stories are very relieved. Nobody looks very good this morning.

PS. I nicked the title of this post from the excellent Marilyn Todd short story. Highly recommended.