Is this what politicians really think about Murdoch?

Is this what they always thought but never said? What they now think after thinking something different before? Or just what they think we think?

It has been thoroughly confusing watching MPs declare victory over Rupert Murdoch. A victory for parliament, they call it. That remains to be seen.

Was that the same David Cameron whose suites at Conservative Party conference I saw Rebekah Brooks breezing in and out of without knocking? Was it the same Ed Miliband I saw visit the News International party hosted by Rebekah Brooks the very night he was elected Labour leader? Was it the same Gordon Brown I saw having tea with Rupert Murdoch at Downing Street and who went to Rebekah Brooks’ wedding?

Yes they have all admitted being too close to News International in the past but I can’t help but wonder: were they acting back then? Faking their apparent friendships? Or did they really have no idea how the press operated, even though people had gone to jail for phone hacking? Or were they just doing what they felt they had to given the power of the News Corp empire?

Gordon Brown insisted in the House today that his relationship with News International was not cosy. But, rightly or wrongly, it was media ownership rules under a Labour government that allowed News Corp to take as much control of the British media as it has. Labour MPs now calling for further limits on media ownership are arguing against their own record.

David Cameron talked about clearing up the mess and putting News International’s house in order. But is he the same man who sang much of the News International tune on the BBC, on neutering the media regulator Ofcom and who refused to link BSkyB ownership with the hacking scandal even after the Milly Dowler revelations and who resisted for so long the inquiry he has now announced?

There is more than a hint of delight in the response of many in the political class. They could be forgiven for feeling a little glee after the MPs’ expenses scandal that the boot is on the other foot. But whatever they say about this not being about revenge there is more than a hint of it in the air. And not just from the Labour side.

It is clear David Cameron feels he has no choice but to go along with the mood.  Even though it is far from clear what the true impact on the media will be. The inquiry is a stab in the dark – it could cut the media down to size, or put new fire into a whole generation of journalists and editors. Or it could end up changing very little.

Are they doing what the public want? It is far from clear what the general public really think – judging from rising news viewing figures they are interested in the story. We all instinctively hate the idea of private stitch-ups and powerful cabals. We all hate feeling manipulated by a media-political machine.

But if the fury at Milly Dowler’s phone hacking has engulfed the whole Murdoch empire I have seen no bonfires of Sky+ boxes in my street and the builders doing the house across the road still seem to read the Sun every morning. There is no doubt Murdoch is down – perhaps more down than at any point in his business life. But he isn’t out yet.