Was the parliamentary pie incident rigged?

Image: Wendi Deng.

It seems that the only person to come out of the parliamentary inquiry into the News of the World hacking scandal with much credit has been Wendi Deng. Springing into immediate action when some half-witted dweeb attempted to slam a foam pie into the face of her husband, she delivered a beautiful slam into his face with the skill she acquired playing volley ball:

The ‘protester’ not only comes away with charges of behavior causing harassment, alarm or distress in a public place and an incredible act of stupidity, but also got a flogging from a chick in the process. There is nothing quite like than a feisty woman.

There is a curious aspect to this though.

It was noticeable that police, presumably for security reasons, escorted the Murdock’s into the inquiry. They were not under arrest and were simply there to answer questions, so there was no other reason for the police presence.

In an age where security is paramount, given the threat of terrorism and its use by the state for gross impositions on the public at large, a parliamentary inquiry where high profile people are present would seem to be something that would warrant extra security. This would be made more necessary by the presence of Rupert Murdock and his family who are surrounded by controversy.

It seems that despite this, a person was allowed through with items that could hardly be seen as normal for such an event. While a pie plate and shaving cream are hardly life threatening, the presence of these items would certainly cause some sort of questions to be asked. It is unlikely they got through unless someone with the power to say no decided to allow it.

It is difficult to see why this would advantage any party to the event and could only cause the whole thing to descend into a circus. It would however cause Murdock to be put on the back foot and suffer a great deal of embarrassment during the hearing.

Something is rotten in the state of England.