With all that has been going on at News International, one supposes there would be much to discuss between old boy Rupert Murdoch and the independent directors of the Times. Not that speaking to Rupe would make them any less independent, or that he would seek to make it so. But as regards the editorship of the Times and the Sunday Times and whether the two might merge – very much a bone of contention – it might help relations. So when he who must be feared and obeyed threw that now celebrated dinner party last week, with invites for company execs, and Boris and the feted actor Damian Lewis, some assumed that a few directors might grace his table. They were wrong. Did you think of inviting them, the host was asked. The reply? Sounded much like: "Fuck 'em."
• Taken from Hugh Muir's Guardian Diary
