Rob Watson

But in its statement settling this case, it says that it acknowledges, and I'm reading here, Val, without any admission of illegality, that the newspaper group's response to the original arrest of its royal reporter, Clive Goodman, in 2006 on all the hacking inquiry. So it's not, for example, it's not admitting to, if you like, one of the main charges that was going to come up.

in this case had it gone to trial and that is essentially that that senior executives presumably all the way up to Rupert Murdoch they knew what was going on that they knew that there was massive amounts of illegal activity and that senior executives perjured themselves both in front of the if you remember at the Leveson inquiry and in court when they denied any such thing had happened now whether the police and parliament will take that up we simply don't know

in this case had it gone to trial and that is essentially that that senior executives presumably all the way up to Rupert Murdoch they knew what was going on that they knew that there was massive amounts of illegal activity and that senior executives perjured themselves both in front of the if you remember at the Leveson inquiry and in court when they denied any such thing had happened now whether the police and parliament will take that up we simply don't know

I think, again, that depends really on whether there is a police investigation and subsequent trial and whether Parliament gets involved again. I mean, were that to happen, I mean, were senior people at the paper or previously at the paper or its owners involved, to be found guilty of the kind of things that we've heard alleged today on the door, on the footsteps of that court, as it were.

I think, again, that depends really on whether there is a police investigation and subsequent trial and whether Parliament gets involved again. I mean, were that to happen, I mean, were senior people at the paper or previously at the paper or its owners involved, to be found guilty of the kind of things that we've heard alleged today on the door, on the footsteps of that court, as it were.

I mean, that would present an extremely serious challenge to the newspaper, popular as it remains.

I mean, that would present an extremely serious challenge to the newspaper, popular as it remains.

The first thing to say, Oliver, is that the whole thing is an extraordinary tale. And just the idea of the world's richest man interfering in British and European politics. But anyway, let's get to the specifics.

The first thing to say, Oliver, is that the whole thing is an extraordinary tale. And just the idea of the world's richest man interfering in British and European politics. But anyway, let's get to the specifics.

So essentially, I think Elon Musk and Nigel Farage saw themselves as being anti-woke, anti-establishment figures, you know, who think that basically a liberal elite has betrayed the majority of ordinary people with the pushing of multiculturalism and high levels of immigration, where they've fallen out is over a man called Tommy Robinson. He's a far-right English activist.

So essentially, I think Elon Musk and Nigel Farage saw themselves as being anti-woke, anti-establishment figures, you know, who think that basically a liberal elite has betrayed the majority of ordinary people with the pushing of multiculturalism and high levels of immigration, where they've fallen out is over a man called Tommy Robinson. He's a far-right English activist.

He's sort of anti-Islam, certainly anti-radical Islam. He's currently in prison for contempt of court. Now, Elon Musk has described him as a political prisoner, whereas Nigel Farage has thought, you know, he's a bit beyond the pale, Tommy Robinson. And so that's what they've fallen out over. He wouldn't call him a political prisoner.

He's sort of anti-Islam, certainly anti-radical Islam. He's currently in prison for contempt of court. Now, Elon Musk has described him as a political prisoner, whereas Nigel Farage has thought, you know, he's a bit beyond the pale, Tommy Robinson. And so that's what they've fallen out over. He wouldn't call him a political prisoner.

Four quick theories, right, Oliver? First one, because he can, right? He's fantastically powerful. The second, he has English heritage. The third that I've seen from a friend of his is that he thinks of Britain particularly, but Europe in general, as the birthplace of liberal democracy. He thinks that it's gone wrong in Britain, it's gone wrong in Europe.

Four quick theories, right, Oliver? First one, because he can, right? He's fantastically powerful. The second, he has English heritage. The third that I've seen from a friend of his is that he thinks of Britain particularly, but Europe in general, as the birthplace of liberal democracy. He thinks that it's gone wrong in Britain, it's gone wrong in Europe.

And so now that he's sort of anti-woke, he's keen for that reason. And the fourth theory I've heard is that he's worried about countries like Britain regulating tech companies like his.

And so now that he's sort of anti-woke, he's keen for that reason. And the fourth theory I've heard is that he's worried about countries like Britain regulating tech companies like his.

It certainly is, Oliver. As I said at the start, you know, I mean, I've been covering politics here and elsewhere around the world for decades. I've never seen anything like this, sort of the world's richest man, a tech billionaire, you know, having such a direct effect on politics. And absolutely British politicians, politicians around Europe are struggling as to know what to do.

It certainly is, Oliver. As I said at the start, you know, I mean, I've been covering politics here and elsewhere around the world for decades. I've never seen anything like this, sort of the world's richest man, a tech billionaire, you know, having such a direct effect on politics. And absolutely British politicians, politicians around Europe are struggling as to know what to do.

I mean, their position has been complicated by the fact that Elon Musk is very close to Donald Trump. So maybe if they weren't, they would just say, look, Mr. Musk, shut up. But of course, they don't want to upset Donald Trump. So this is absolutely brand new territory. And let's be frank about it. The politicians here and elsewhere in Europe, they're struggling as to what to do.