NOTW Goodbye and good riddance

I have to dig deep in the archives of my memory to remember when I last bought the News of the World,(NOTW) it was certainly before the 1984 miners strike and certainly before the 1982 Falklands War.

My memories of the NOTW was as a trade unionist in 1986 supporting over 6.000 sacked printers at Wapping and standing on the picket lines, witnessing some of the Metropolitan Police Officers run riot against printers. I see the Observer charts this event as the beginning of the period when Murdoch and News International felt they could do what they want with Thatcher's Tory Government backing. So it seems that there is some history of some police officers breaking the law to support News International and a Tory Government doing everything it can to support Murdoch.

Mistreating victims of tragic events is also not new from the NOTW and News International. In 1989 the NOTW and the Sun disgracefully blamed the victims of the Hillsborough tragedy on their own deaths, making up stories of victims being robbed and beaten by others when the opposite was true, that many Liverpool supporters bravely risked their own lives to help others crushed in the Leppings Lane terracing at Hillsborough. Maybe we should have followed the city of Liverpool's lead and boycotted Murdoch's press then this current disgraceful situation would not have happened.

I also remember the terrible treatment dosed out to a good politician Neill Kinnock in the 1992 General Election. It left a bitter taste in the Labour movement, so much so it made sense for Blair and Brown to neutralise the power of News International in 1997. The one regret is Blair should have turned away from Murdoch after the landslide victory in 1997 rather than to continue to dialogue with him.

What now for News International? It seems more will come out that will taint Coulson and inevitably put Cameron in the dock. The question is what did Coulson do during the 2010 General Election for the Tories? Was he clean and honest in his campaigning? It will be fascinating to see the story unfold.

I didn't get to see a copy of the NOTW and many in Britain will not now get the opportunity to continue not to buy the paper. It will be missed by some but British democracy is better for the demise of News International. Goodbye to the NOTW and good riddance.