6.15pm WATCH Taiwanese illustrators offer their take on the News of the World saga.
5pm ToryDiary: The big idea of early intervention
4pm WATCH David Cameron announces a public enquiry into the hacking scandal headed by a judge
3.15pm Graeme Archer enters the privacy debate on Comment: "You don’t often get the chance to measure how far you are from received opinion: I learnt a lesson that morning. I understand now why my other half urged me to think carefully when I applied to be on the Conservative Party approved list of parliamentary candidates." "They know the rules." But what are – and should be – the rules?
12.15pm ConHomeUSA: Today's Republican and US political news
11.30am ToryDiary: Cameron's Star Trek moment
10am ToryDiary: David Cameron's full remarks at press conference, in wake of newspaper hacking crisis
ToryDiary: Cameron should announce this morning that he's sending for a judge
Comment: Lord Ashcroft: Why Miliband needs to take a close look at his own private office before he criticises others
Also in Comment: Dominic Raab MP: Perils and injustices in the Equality Act
Local Government: Another 110 schools applied to be academies last month
WATCH: News of The World journalists "devastated"
Screwed! Murdoch shuts News of the World to salvage BSkyB bid. Hunt delays BSkyB decision. Coulson arrested. Miliband tears into Brooks and turns up pressure on Cameron…and Prime Minister to hold hold press conference at 9.30
The closure
"News of the World – Britain's biggest selling Sunday newspaper – will close after failing to hold itself to account in the phone hacking scandal, it was announced last night. James Murdoch, Deputy Chief Operating Officer of owner News Corporation, said the paper was "in the business of holding others to account". But he added: "It failed when it came to itself." – The Sun
Hunt kicks for the long grass
"The last time he spoke in the Commons he suggested he would hand down a positive verdict giving the go ahead within a matter of days. But that was before this week's shocking allegations that the News of the World hacked the phones of victims of murder, terrorism and war. This afternoon the DCMS let it be known that Hunt won't now make his ruling until September. Civil servants insist this is not "a delay" because no date had been set for him to speak – but at minimum it amounts to a further six month delay." – Sky News
'Allo, 'allo, 'allo: Do you know the Prime Minister? (And more arrests to follow after Coulson's)
"Andy Coulson has been told by police that he will be arrested on Friday morning over suspicions that he knew about, or had direct involvement in, the hacking of mobile phones during his editorship of the News of the World. The Guardian understands that a second arrest is also to be made in the next few days of a former senior journalist at the paper…The Guardian knows the identity of the second suspect but is withholding the name to avoid prejudicing the police investigation." – The Guardian
Newsflash: Coulson arrested and taken to West End police station
Fleet Street: Brooks is Cameron's friend (in case you didn't know)…
"David Cameron was last night facing searching questions over his close friendship with News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks. The Prime Minister also came under pressure once again over his judgment in employing Andy Coulson as his Downing Street communications chief…Critics in Mr Cameron’s own party believe he became far too close to Mrs Brooks, a fellow member of the so-called ‘Chipping Norton set’ in Oxfordshire." – Daily Mail
…Miliband: She must go – and so must the Press Complaints Commission
"Ed Miliband said: "But I make this point – one person seems to be staying in her job, is the chief executive of News International Rebekah Brooks, who was the editor of at the time Milly Dowler's phone was hacked. I don't think News International can hope to start moving on and dealing with these issues while she remains in post. The shock development came as police said there could be as many as 4,000 victims of phone hacking by the paper, which has been published for 168 years." – Daily Telegraph
"The Press Complaints Commission is a "toothless poodle" that should be replaced by a new self-regulatory watchdog, Ed Miliband will say on Friday. In a speech drawn up before James Murdoch announced the demise of the News of the World, the Labour leader will say the PCC failed in its investigations into allegations about illegal phone hacking. The speech comes after Lady Buscombe, the chair of the PCC, admitted she had been lied to by executives at News International." – The Guardian
Prime Minister's fightback plan
"Yesterday, Downing Street stressed that Mr Cameron wanted "urgent" progress on his two promised inquiries into the failure of the police to investigate phone hacking adequately, and to address the wider questions of media ethics. Sir Gus O'Donnell, the Cabinet Secretary, will this weekend submit proposals for the terms of the inquiries. Mr Cameron will meet Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, on Wednesday for discussions, hoping to demonstrate progress on the inquiries before the Commons rises for its summer break." – The Independent
Is now the moment to take the 150/1 bet that David Cameron will be the next member of the Cabinet to quit? – Mike Smithson, Political Betting
There's more, much more, to come
"The chairman of the Commons select committee that scrutinises the media said he had been told that police had evidence going beyond the names in Mr Mulcaire’s file. John Whittingdale said that police had held the information for four years but not looked at it. “It is not only the Mulcaire papers — I’m told more evidence is to emerge,” he told The Times. He called for inquiries to begin imminently to show how widespread such illegal tactics were." – The Times (£)
(And Ken Clarke chooses his moment to put the boot in)
"Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke suggested the closure of the newspaper was cynical, claiming: ‘All they’re going to do is rebrand it." – Daily Mail
Brown: I would still be Prime Minister, have saved the world and rule the universe if hacking scandal had been revealed earlier – Wintour and Watt, The Guardian
Comment: The Editorials
Comment under-statement of the day
"I think one can assume that the decision would not have been made without Rupert Murdoch’s approval," The Times
> Yesterday's ConHome coverage
Charities to Cameron: don't hold back public sector change
"Charity chiefs have urged David Cameron not to water down public sector reforms by giving in to vested interests. Sir Stephen Bubb, who represents charity leaders, has written to the Prime Minister and Nick Clegg claiming that there was a risk of the reforms becoming the “victim of political compromise”. Next week the Government will publish its White Paper, which was expected to include radical plans to encourage the private and voluntary sectors to take over health, education and council services." – The Times (£)
Transparency is no substitute for choice in the public services – Daily Telegraph Editorial
Clegg wants Britain to stump up for future EU bailouts
"Although Mr Clegg will not call directly for British taxpayers to prop up countries like Greece, some senior Liberal Democrats believe the UK should play a bigger role in future bailouts. The Deputy Prime Minister will say: "There are problems in the eurozone and they are important, not just to members of the single currency, but to all Europeans. We may have different coins in our pockets, but our fates are intertwined." – The Independent
Huhne claims that global warming poses threat to Britain's security – Daily Mail
Oh, and while you weren't looking…New report on MPs' expenses published – Daily Telegraph
Tributes paid to 7/7 victims on sixth anniversary of London bombings – Daily Mail
Other Political News and Comment
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