So that’s the end of Murdoch then

And the end of my pretensions to political punditry. As Thatcher said about unemployment, a small price to pay.  Or was it Tebbit.

Cameron must be looking and feeling foolish. Milliband, if the comments I’ve seen are right, is riding high. And Vince Cable is vindicated for being at war with Murdoch. When the Daily Telegraph tricked him into declaring this in December he was greeted with gasps of astonished disproval from the establishment.  For his sake I hope he didn’t do too much backtracking in the meantime.

According to someone called David Carr writing in the New York Times,  "a kind of British Spring is under way”, now that News Corporation’s system of punishment and reward for politicians has crumbled.  That sounds going too far to me.  He seems to mistake social media roaming “wild and free across the story” for protesters camping out in Parliament Square.  Still an interesting thought.

The main thing is the BBC should be safe for now. Murdoch's plan to destroy it is now on ice along with his BSkyB bid. And let us hope will stay there.  At least if it's revived there is the prospect of widespread protest.