apparent to dead meat and even bring allegations of attempting to pervert the course of justice. The Murdochs were forced to close the NOTW and withdraw a key bid to take over BSkyB.
The rest of the media has also come out of this badly. It is apparent that these practices were widespread. Only The Guardian pursued the investigation over
Undoubtedly more is yet to come both from News International and other newspapers. The ramifications may take years to unfold. This is not the storm in a teacup that some have insinuated. It has been compared to Watergate. But a better comparison may be the Tangentopoli ("bribesville") scandal of early 1990s Italy. Sleaze and corruption It is a major series of setbacks for one of the biggest global media operators, linked to sleaze and corruption in the main political parties and core sections of the state. The leadership of the Conservative Party, and Cameron in particular, are highly implicated. The shock waves could yet lead to Cameron's departure from office and
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Murdoch empire scandal: the inner workings of capitalism revealed 6 the collapse of the inevitably weakened government.
The revelations have taken on a systemic character. Whilst establishing individual responsibility is important - at the highest levels - even more significant is the extent to which culpability has an institutional character, encompassing almost the whole of the ruling class and
Reliance on various wings of the bourgeoisie and its state to investigate itself is problematic enough in the best of circumstances. The need for an independent working class and socialist perspective on what has happened in the present situation is paramount.
At the core of all the revelations lies just one thing: the pursuit of profit at any cost. The Murdoch press knew no legal or moral boundaries. This made possible actions of shocking depravity, criminality and corruption. But they were nonetheless integral to the "normal" process underpinning capitalist economic activity that does not see human lives, sensitivities and social codes as a necessary obstacle in the chase to maximise profits. This applied even in an industry peculiarly sensitive to public opinion and from a media group whose papers take great pride in their support for "law and order" and the "rights of victims"
These actions can hardly be dismissed as those of rogues or bad apples. Newscorp, the parent organisation owned by the Murdochs, is a global media giant with a multi-billion pound turnover. It was feted by political leaders across the world, particularly the British political establishment, and envied by the rest of the corporate world. Indeed the whole of the ruling class has been content to stand back and do nothing about these sordid goings-on over the past decade precisely because these activities were regarded as acceptable.
What has occurred therefore is a rare lifting of the lid on the basic workings of capitalism. The ruling elite would have us believe that capitalists operate with integrity, that the free operation of private capital in the market place is the best guarantor not only for efficiency and productivity but also quality and accountability to the public. In short that capitalists can be trusted to look after our best interests. These lies have been dramatically exposed.
Coming after an economic crisis brought on by the rapacious greed of a finance capitalism that was similarly feted for its contribution to "growth and prosperity", the scandal has the potential to expose to ridicule and contempt the daily falsehoods peddled about the private sector. Scandal-mongering and celebrity obsession The deep extension of the scandal into the police and the complete failure of the various parliamentary and other systems of accountability and regulation - also expose the falsity of claims about the independence of the state, its accountability and its integrity. In truth the state is a servant of the ruling class and the trappings of democracy, oversight and regulation are of minimal effectiveness if there is any threat to the interests of capitalism.
A number of factors integral to the development of the "neo-liberal" form of capitalism in recent decades have been essential to the form that the scandal has taken, in particular: the valuation of absolutely everything in monetary terms; the down-grading of an ethos of public service; privatisation; the hollowing out of the state and its penetration at all levels by the private sector; the growth of surveillance culture and the development of a market (much of it illegal) in private data.
The history of the Murdoch media operation in Britain has been integrally linked to the ascendancy of neo-liberalism. In the 1980s papers like NOTW and the Sun provided a propaganda front for Thatcher's assault on the working class. This whipped up a reactionary populism that combined jingoism and support for imperialist wars with racism, sexism, homophobia and xenophobia. Working class culture was polluted with a diet of scandalmongering and celebrity obsession.
At its core was union-bashing. The battle of Wapping, where the Murdoch press was moved in 1985 in a bid to crush the media unions, following the Miners' Strike, set the scene for the decline in union membership and militancy and the thorough marginalisation of the left in the
Key to this was the transformation of the Labour Party into "New Labour", central to which was the explicit capitulation of Blair and the party leadership to the Murdoch empire and its
Despite claims to the contrary, there are limitations to Labour's ability to credibly meet the challenge posed by these developments. Both major parties have been in hock to the Murdoch press for so long that last minute U-turns to distance themselves from this scandal have been
Miliband's supporters have claimed that he has done well by taking the lead in demanding action against the wrong-doers. But he and his cohorts were dining out with the Murdochs until days before the scandal erupted and would have been quite happy to keep a lid on the whole affair and nod through the BSkyB bid. There have been some honourable exceptions - like MP Tom Watson who has doggedly followed this story and played a major role in exposing it. But to date there has been little sign of a resurgence in Labour support in response
The close relationship between the party leadership and the Murdoch empire over the decades extends deep into the party as there are few MPs who did not acquiesce or pay lip service to the arrangement. It is also a product of the party's embrace of neo-liberal capitalism, the dynamics of which are at the heart of all key aspects of the scandal. The modern Labour Party has to a significant degree been moulded by this history.
Unfortunately the unions, a rare example of a national representative institution that has remained untouched by the scandal have been largely silent. At a time like this, the absence of a principled left party able to organise around the issue is sorely felt.
A priority has to be the organisation of a forum to facilitate an independent working class debate on media reform and the fight for accountability and democracy in state institutions and against corruption in the police. The restoration of a strong union presence in the media must be a
The ruling class was in disarray prior to this - with military adventurism in Atghanistan and Libya turning sour and deep financial crises in the Eurozone and the USA. In the past year in Britain, the student protests heralded the beginnings of a new militancy in response to the government's austerity offensive. It is difficult not to connect the timing of this scandal's unravelling with these other indicators of a weakening of internal solidarity, unity and self-confidence in one of the strongest ruling classes in the world With an autumn of struggles over pensions, job losses and cuts looming - this is well timed to encourage the working class to raise its sights, organise and fight back.