Long before the phone hacking scandal, Murdoch’s papers, like the Sun and News of the World, were notorious for the virulence of their invective and running highly dodgy stories about celebrities, writes the Beast.

In this Spitting Image sketch, Murdoch and two of his journalists, shown as vultures, concoct an ever-more sensational and completely unfounded story about cricketer Ian Botham, in which they accuse the great man of terrorism offences and incest.

You’ll have to go over to Beastrabban\’s Weblog to see the sketch (ain’t I a stinker?) but in consolation – and because satirising Murdoch never goes out of fashion, here’s Adam Hills’ rant from last Friday’s Last Leg, in which he takes his fellow countryman to task about his attitude to Islam (with apologies for the profanity at the end, although it really is very original).

Pay particular attention, please, to his points about Muslim terror attacks: You are more likely to be killed by a bee sting, a peanut, or the NHS

Follow me on Twitter: @MidWalesMike

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