Tens of millions of emails deleted. What does Rupert Murdoch’s business have to hide?

The media magnate had the British ruling class wrapped around his finger despite his company’s extensive use of phone hacking, writes Alan Rusbridger. As new evidence emerges about the targeting of MPs, when will they get angry enough to demand action?

Rupert Murdoch was previously a director of News International, now News UK (PA Archive)

Let’s imagine a bank – an ethically challenged one. Its staff have been accused of widespread criminality. It first tries to lie about it all, but that doesn’t matter too much because the police and regulator conveniently turn a blind eye. MPs run for cover; the media shrugs.

Eventually, the bad smell won’t go away. When it gets too pungent, the cops decide to investigate – but before they can start work, tens of millions of emails are deleted. There’s suddenly less to investigate.

MPs begin to take an interest. The bank is worried and hires investigators to hack into their phone messages to find out what they might be up to.