Andy Coulson is one of a venerable list of tabloid journalists rectuited to be political spokesmen (they're always men) for the leaders of the two British parties. Joe Haines was the first to be well known, Bernard Ingham discarded any previous Labour loyalty in service of Margaret Thatcher, and Alistair Campbell brought the role to its apothesis, integrating policy and presentation as never before.

But given the allegations against Coulson now (and the fact that the PFA's Gordon Taylor was paid 700k in recompense looks like an almighty admission of guilt), it's inconceivable that he can stay in service of David Cameron. Were he in charge of the News of the World when it was habitually bugging politicians, celebrities and sportsmen, he should not only be sacked, he should be thrown in jail. It would be great to see some action taken against the NOTW too, but political expediency will doubtless rule that out. (Murdoch's papers having"power without responsibility, the prerogative of the harlot" as Baldwin so rightly said).

It's been interesting to see the reaction in the blogosphere. There are two common defences posed by the right/Tory strain:

1. See how you like it, AKA the state does it so you can't complain. This is disingenuous at best and completely fucking stupid at worst. OK, Labour's record on privacy isn't good. But two wrongs don't make a right, they make two wrong things! And there's no Staasi in Britain, bugging regular members of the public (despite the febrile imaginings of some...). Monitoring wheelie bins and bugging mobile phones are on a completely different scale.
2. "It's a political attack" or "It's revenge for Damian McBride". Well, duh. Of course it's a political attack! The man's been caught, it's impossible to defend; he has to go. Given Labour's failure to land a real punch on Cameron so far, it's no surprise how quickly this has been taken up in parliament. OK, it's an important story - but it has given an open-goal for Labour. If they screw it up (as Kinnock did with Westland for example), that's surely their final chance to win the 2011 election gone.

But, regardless, Coulson must go, and he should stand trial.