I am I Said

When former England football boss, Graham Taylor, resigned from his job at Aston Villa, he began with a long eulogy of his own achievements. So long, in fact, one sport hack interupted him and asked, "You resigning or what?"

Sir Paul Stephenson's farewell yesterday was even longer. I missed this latest huge news story as it broke, which wasunderstandable having not watched the headlines for two hours. All sorts could happen in that period of time on a Sunday afternoon.

So a tedious self-justification was to be expected. And even wishing to have the cake and eat it on his own "integrity". But what was not expected was his reasoning for not informing the PM about his employing of hack, perhaps even hacker, Wolfman Wallis. Not wishing to "compromise" Cameron should be translated as, "the PM is actually implicated in this too by hiring Wallis's boss, Coulson. "

The political tide has washed away Rebekah Brooks, the takeover deal and the NotW itself. The scandal has now forced the Chief Commissioner to resign and maligned other senior cops. We now turn to the third side of this triangle; the politicians. Many have confessed their general regret at cosying to NI. But only Cameron hired one of them and continues to defend him even after his arrest.

Coulson's appontment was challenged from day one, by opposition parties and some grey beards in the Tory party. This could be very tough on Cameron, depending on what comes out in the next few days. His defence of saying Wallis was a "quite different" case because he was at the Met where the criminal investigation was taking place is paper thin. Coulson in Downing Street had access to highly sensitive material including Top Secret which hardly makes it a risk-free appointment. How was he security cleared exactly?

Dave's style of premiership seems quite different from his political mentor, Blair. Although Tony was safe in terms of his Commons majority, he was always very conscious of vulnerabilities from scandals, bad judgements, and sheer events. Cameron has arrived into No.10 with a false sense of imperviousness, borne of his privilege.

The recall of Parliament this week is unavoidable but there is nothing in it for Dave but serious questions on his judgement and even idle thoughts of his life expectancy.