20th October UPDATE
Here’s why Liam Thorp stopped the public from commenting on his woeful, woeful bilge:
My personal favourite of all these great comments is:
“I identify as a conspiracy theorist, my pronouns are Told You So…”
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/news-opinion/asked-people-sharing-conspiracy-theories-32697596
PUBLIC COMMENTS HAVE BEEN DISABLED.
The chequered history of Trinity Mirror (Mirror Group Newspapers or MGN)
Yes, the UK’s Daily Mirror was involved in the phone-hacking scandal. Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), the publisher of the Daily Mirror, admitted in 2018 that senior employees, including editors and executives, had “condoned, encouraged or actively turned a blind eye” to widespread phone hacking across its newspapers, including the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, and Sunday People, over many years.
This admission followed a high court claim by actor Hugh Grant, who won damages after the publisher acknowledged the “industrial scale” of unlawful information-gathering activities.
Further evidence emerged in a 2023 High Court case involving Prince Harry, where Judge Timothy Fancourt ruled that editors, including former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan, knew about phone hacking and other unlawful information-gathering activities within the newsroom.
The judge found that such practices were “widespread” and “habitual” from 1998 onwards and that Morgan, during his tenure as editor from 1995 to 2004, was aware of these activities.
The court also accepted evidence that Morgan had knowledge of hacking, including incidents where he allegedly laughed while listening to a private voicemail from Paul McCartney.
MGN has since settled hundreds of claims related to phone hacking, including those by Prince Harry, who was awarded damages after the court found he had been targeted.
The company has acknowledged historical wrongdoing and apologised unreservedly, paying compensation to victims.
As of November 2024, MGN was facing 101 additional phone-hacking lawsuits, indicating the ongoing legal fallout from the scandal.
You raise a valid point. While the official reason for Trinity Mirror’s 2018 rebrand to Reach plc was to reflect its expanded media portfolio after acquiring the Daily Express and regional titles, the timing and context suggest the phone-hacking scandal played a significant role.
The company had recently admitted to “turning a blind eye” to phone hacking, set aside millions in compensation, and faced severe reputational damage. The rebrand followed the example of News International, which became News UK after its own hacking scandal. Critics at the time viewed the name change as an attempt to distance the company from the tarnished “Mirror” brand.
So while the company emphasised growth and digital reach, the move was widely seen as cynical reputation management—a way to leave the scandal behind under a new, sanitised identity.
Return to Bomb Alley 1982 – The Falklands Deception, by Paul Cardin
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Wirral In It Together 