A lie by any other name

Questions are being asked if the Murdoch media scandal is shaping up to become another Watergate. It certainly seems on the right track.

With the damping down of each new revelation or imputation, another springs up.

As in the scandal that brought Richard Nixon to his “I’m not a quitter” words,  a voice from inside the cabal or what some might call the smoking gun has emerged.

The latest twist comes from former allies of the boss, or, in the  Murdoch case the bosses … father and son.

While the emperor, Rupert, appeared frail and sometimes slow to respond, when facing a grilling from a Parliamentary Committee, James the heir apparent seemed confident and well rehearsed.

But it now seems he was over confident, and he may have been led into a further quagmire by some simple questions about his knowledge of events. One of those questions, and his answer, were played back constantly on BBC transmissions around the world on Friday. He told MPs he had no knowledge of an email revealing widespread hacking going on when he settled a compensation claim by football boss Gordon Taylor for £700,000.

But two former News International executives – Colin Myler, who was editor of the News of the World when it was closed earlier this month, and Tom Crone, the group's legal officer have come forward to claim they alerted Murdoch at that time.

Winston Churchill, in 1906, well aware that to suggest another member was lying was against House etiquette, coined the phrase: “terminological inexactitude.”

Labour MP Tom Watson, a member of the culture select committee which questioned the Murdochs said on Twitter it showed: "Murdoch was engaged in a cover-up, hiding the truth from shareholders, readers and Parliament".

The BSkyB board meeting on July 28, the day before the company's latest results are announced, has been seen as a crunch date for James Murdoch. Ahead of his appearance before the culture committee, it was generally assumed that, if he performed badly, he would be thrown overboard to save the company's reputation.

First impressions were that he had acquitted himself well and would be safe in his job. But the Myler/Crone allegations have altered the atmosphere totally.

Watson's accusations that the allegations reveal a cover-up by James Murdoch could be serious for the Murdoch empire as a whole.

Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, in an unrelated press conference, said Ofcom should "move quickly" to decide whether the Murdochs were fit and proper to hold the broadcasting licence for BSkyB.

A First Post commentator said: “If they fail that test, they could be deprived of t

heir billion-dollar milch cow in space, and that could destroy their global empire, News Corp.

“The Myler/Crone allegations are therefore dynamite for the Murdochs and the ramifications are far wider than simply the possible misleading of Parliament or James stepping down at BSkyB.”

As with Watergate, with a speeded up police investigation, many firmly closed mouths may start to open, if only to reduce potential time behind bars.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minster David Cameron who cut short an African tour to face the House of Commons still has crocodiles snapping at his feet. Although he put on a fine performance answering a  barrage of questions, as with President Bill Clinton who “never had sex” with Monica Lewinsky, he dodged the bullet when asked a direct question about whether he had ever discussed the Murdoch’s attempt to take full control BSky He didn’t say no and didn’t say yes. He said he never attempted to influence the negotiations. Bill Clinton would understand that.

Churchill might have coined another phrase.