Politicians from all sides of the political spectrum now have the prospect of being freed from the shackles of fear
Baroness Royall
The fall out from the phone hacking scandal that threatens to destroy Rupert Murdoch's grip on British media and politics has been described as a "revolution" by Labour.
Baroness Royall of Blaisdon, Labour's leader in the House of Lords, said today that the worlds of UK politics, media and policing had been "shaken to their very core".
Speaking during a debate on phone hacking in the Lords this afternoon, the Labour peer said ten days ago News International owned four major newspapers, its bid for BSkyB looked set to be nodded through.and Rebekah Brooks "reigned supreme at the pinnacle of UK media power".
Baroness Royall told peers closure of the News of the World, the resignation of Brooks and the withdrawal of the bid for BSkyB could be seen as "ten days that shook the world" – a term originally coined to describe the Russian revolution in 1917.
She said that while the events of the last ted days could perhaps not be compared to the Arab Spring or the Russian revolution, compared to the recent British political past it was "a revolution indeed".
"Politicians from all sides of the political spectrum now have the prospect of being freed from the shackles of fear," she said.
"Fear of an unfavourable front page, fear of the public being turned against them."
She added: "We politicians have started to regain our moral courage."
But Lib Dem peer Baroness Kramer warned that Murdoch had not given up.
"The notion the empire has accepted the verdict of the public is very far from reality," she said.
And Lord Prescott, who has long pursued the issue of phone hacking, also cautioned that people should not be distracted by Rebekah Brooks' resignation.
"The biggest culprit is Rupert Murdoch," he said. "All these others are bit players"
He added: "If we don’t deal with him he will be back"
Murdoch is expected to appear in front of the culture committee next Tuesday alongside Brooks and his son James.
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