Phone-Hacking Scandal Getting Closer to James Murdoch

The previous post has greater detail about why it may not be a bad thing for James Murdoch to be implicated in the NewsCorp scandal. This post is more about how much closer he seems to be to being ensnared by it. The big news yesterday was that Rupert Murdoch's right hand man, Les Hinton had been forced out after Rebekah Brooks went. Now, the big news is that Brooks has been arrested over her role in a scandal that involved the hacking of phones and voicemails.

The Guardian is reporting that Brooks' arrest appears to be an indicator that the younger Murdoch will soon be the subject of investigations.

The arrest of Rebekah Brooks in relation to phone hacking and corruption drags News Corporation deeper into crisis.

It must surely mean that the police investigation is edging closer to James Murdoch, who has been head of all News Corporation's businesses in Europe and Asia since 2007. He personally approved payments to civil litigants against the News of the World in settlement of their cases – deals that involved gagging clauses that appears to have prevented them discussing potential criminal activity in public.

There are two other important things to note from the arrest of Brooks. It is a personal blow for Rupert Murdoch, who had invested so much in the career of Brooks, promoting her though the Wapping ranks at lightening speed and describing her as the "daughter he never had." (he actually has four).

It must also set nerves on edge in Downing Street – only on Friday, it was revealed that David Cameron had hosted Brooks twice at Chequers, the only guest to be granted a second visit in his premiership. They also met socially over Christmas.

The leftwing media continues to lick its chops, smelling NewsCorp blood in the water; Rupert Murdoch is the target they simply cannot refrain from attacking. Unwittingly, they may be helping to sink Rupert's very leftwing son from taking the reigns.

Telegraph has more.