Fit To Print

This is Cameron's defining moment. And he stands defined by how hopelessly compromised he is: unfit for office on account of, as Hamlet might have put it, his country suppers.

Three cheers for Sir Peter Tapsell MP, first elected in 1959, and veteran Keynesian and pro-Commonwealth scourge of the EU, Thatcher, the neocons, and now also Murdoch: "Should not ownership of newspapers be restricted to British nationals who are judged fit and proper, as with television?" Yes, it should.

Just wait for the Labour amendments to ban any person or other interest from owning or controlling more than one national daily newspaper, to ban any person or other interest from owning or controlling more than one national weekly newspaper, to ban any person or other interest from owning or controlling more than one television station, and to restrict all such interests to British Citizens who are resident in the United Kingdom for tax purposes.

By all means let half a dozen Blairite throwbacks vote against these, in accordance with the Murdoch line instead. All the easier to identify them for deselection, in that case. But look out for any remaining Tories voting in favour of them. We already know that there is one. 82 years old, but long may he remain. Are there any other Tories left in the House of Commons? We shall soon find out.