Few will mourn the passing of the NoTW. Certainly not Tommy Sheridan, the former Scottish Socialist MSP, now in jail for perjury.

When quizzed by Sheridan about the NoTW’s reliance on bugging and hacking Coulson replied: 

 "I don't accept there was a culture of phone hacking at the NoW. There was a very unfortunate, to put it mildly, case involving Clive Goodman. No one was more sorry about it than me – that's why I resigned."

The police are now reviewing the evidence Coulson gave at Sheridan’s trial.

In an excellent piece in the Daily Telegraph today, Peter Oborne asks David Cameron to account for his actions: 

“We need an explanation of how he came to hire Mr Coulson, what checks were made, what advice was taken.”

And Oborne also wants details of meetings with Rebekah Brooks and Rupert Murdoch himself. 

As do we all.

Ashcroft’s airport

Michael Ashcroft who (let us never forget) cheated his way into the House of Lords in 2000 is getting ever more brazen.

As well as being a citizen of the UK and Belize, he is also a “belonger” in the Turks and Caicos Islands where he has extensive business interests including BCB Holdings which he lists in the Lords Register of Members Interests.

He uses written questions in the Lords to keep abreast of developments in his Caribbean homeland. He wants to know: 

whether any commitments were obtained from airlines to use a proposed extended runway in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos, before construction commenced.

Why does he want to know this? 

The Guardian reported last year that the former Governor of T&CI, Richard Tauwhare claimed the former Premier, Michael Misick who is now being investigated for corruption, "personally negotiated an agreement for a Lord Ashcroft company based in Belize, Airport Holdings Limited" to buy most of the airport. The company, he says, would invest $70m to improve the facilities at the airport. In return, he says, the company would take a cut of an increased departure tax for 49 years.”

The report added that Lord Ashcroft's lawyers had been in touch with the Guardian and that there were no grounds for questioning the propriety of the peer's conduct. "Any such suggestion amounts to nothing more than a smear by hearsay, innuendo and association.”

Why doesn’t Ashcroft stir himself, get to his feet and make a speech in the Lords (that would be an event) telling us why he is so interested in TCI’s new international airport.

Perhaps he might declare an interest.