Why Caesar’s wife means David Cameron has to resign

David Cameron’s big pal, Boris Johnson, is fond of breaking out classical aphorisms in his oh-so-loveable foppish way. One that the mayor of London might now suggest to the prime minister is Quia suam uxorem etiam suspiciore vacare vellet. Roughly translated, it means “Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion”. Cameron is chums with Rebekah Brooks. Cameron hired Andy Coulson, despite Coulson's involvement in the phone-hacking scandal being “simply and blindingly obvious” according to ex-Met Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson. The Met’s two top officers have resigned over less. And Cameron’s government was happily handing over BSkyB to Rupert Murdoch. Now it turns out that Dave also had cosy little chats with News International about the BSkyB deal. This was admitted by the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, although he reassured us that the “discussions the prime minister had on the BSkyB deal were irrelevant”. Of course they were, Jeremy, of course they were. And, of course, it’s also irrelevant that the PM has met News International executives 26 times in the year-and-a-bit since he entered Downing Street. I’m certain as well that the switch in political allegiance of the News International titles was irrelevant to everything, as was News International's hacking into the phones of Cameron’s political opponents. Cameron’s aides will claim he knew nothing about anything. Unfortunately, that line has been devalued by the denizens of Wapping, including those buddies of the PM who did know plenty. The simple facts are as follows:

• News International illegally hacked the phones of Cameron’s political opponents, among others.
• Cameron hired a News International executive who had resigned over this spying.
• News International switched its political support to back Cameron.
• Cameron met News International executives every other week after becoming PM.
• Cameron’s government was going to allow the News International takeover of BSkyB.

The picture painted by those facts is not pretty. It would shame a tinpot dictatorship, let alone a supposedly mature democracy. At best, David Cameron has shown dreadful judgment. He can no longer be prime minister. As with Caesar’s wife, it is not enough for the PM to be cleaner than clean: he must appear to be manifestly so. In allowing himself to be mired in such a swamp of questionable contacts and regrettable decisions, David Cameron no longer fits that description.

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