LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: Here is John Clarke and Bryan Dawe.

BRYAN DAWE: Thanks for your time.

JOHN CLARKE: Good evening, Bryan. Good to talk to you.

BRYAN DAWE: Tell me, what's been the fallout from the appearance of Rupert and James Murdoch before the parliamentary committee?

JOHN CLARKE: Yeah, very interesting. There seem to be two issues emerging, Bryan. The first is their performance, which is largely a perception issue.

BRYAN DAWE: And a very importance one.

JOHN CLARKE: Very important one. They want to cauterise this wound, Bryan.

BRYAN DAWE: They don't want it spreading to the US, obviously.

JOHN CLARKE: They don't. And the other obvious thing is that standards in journalism have been violated, which they acknowledge, which they accept, and that's not playing well here at all.

BRYAN DAWE: Yes. And Mr Murdoch said this was the humblest he'd ever felt.

JOHN CLARKE: I think he actually said, Bryan, was that it was the humblest day of his life.

BRYAN DAWE: So who was humble: him or the day?

JOHN CLARKE: Yes, "humblest day of my life." Yes, I think it was the day, Bryan. I think it might have been the weather that was humble.

BRYAN DAWE: Why hasn't the Parliament done something about these violations earlier?

JOHN CLARKE: Well it was only prompted just last week by the revelations that information had been obtained illegally.

BRYAN DAWE: Haven't the police resigned?

JOHN CLARKE: Not all of them, Bryan. There are some police left I think in Norfolk. Oh, there's another one resigned.

BRYAN DAWE: So, do we know what actually happened?

JOHN CLARKE: Well, we know what's been said.

BRYAN DAWE: Well, it happened at the News of the World.

JOHN CLARKE: At the News of the World, which is not there anymore

BRYAN DAWE: The most successful newspaper in Britain

JOHN CLARKE: Far and away. It was huge.

BRYAN DAWE: So what went wrong?

JOHN CLARKE: Well I - all I can do is read between the lines, Bryan, what seems to have happened, on the basis of what's been said, is that some criminals broke into the offices of the News of the World and started behaving illegally.

BRYAN DAWE: Incredible. Did anyone else know about this?

JOHN CLARKE: No-one had any idea, Bryan?

BRYAN DAWE: They must have been very clever.

JOHN CLARKE: Who musta been?

BRYAN DAWE: Well the criminals.

JOHN CLARKE: Oh, the criminals. The criminals were obviously very - oh, yes, this was very well-thought-out.

BRYAN DAWE: Right. And how did the criminals get in?

JOHN CLARKE: Yes, yet to be determined, I think, Bryan.

BRYAN DAWE: Tunnelling?

JOHN CLARKE: Possibly tunnelling from an adjacent building, landed on the roof in choppers. I don't know. They coulda been born there.

BRYAN DAWE: Tough work.

JOHN CLARKE: Oh, they were very determined people.

BRYAN DAWE: And what did they actually do when they got in?

JOHN CLARKE: Well they behaved illegally, Bryan. They hacked into people's phones, they negotiated huge payouts for each other, they arranged for all their legal expenses to be paid for by the company.

BRYAN DAWE: All without anybody's knowledge.

JOHN CLARKE: Without anybody's knowledge at all, Bryan.

BRYAN DAWE: Well it's a good thing the News of the World didn't find out about it, eh?

JOHN CLARKE: Yeah, weren't they lucky? Weren't they lucky?

BRYAN DAWE: Imagine the trouble they'd be in.

JOHN CLARKE: Coulda been very messy.

BRYAN DAWE: This coulda blown up in their faces.

JOHN CLARKE: Yeah, well there's still the police inquiry to go through.

BRYAN DAWE: Oh, so they're fairly safe.

JOHN CLARKE: Well we don't know yet, Bryan.

BRYAN DAWE: And who'll be in charge of the police investigation.

JOHN CLARKE: Yeah, good point. We've lost a few senior police. The inquiry it says here will be conducted by the postmaster in Willesden, Bryan.

BRYAN DAWE: Right, well, keep us posted.

JOHN CLARKE: He's very good. He's looking for his bike and then he's getting back to the Prime Minister, it says here.

BRYAN DAWE: Mhmm.

JOHN CLARKE: Keep you posted?

BRYAN DAWE: Yeah.

JOHN CLARKE: Very amusing.