For the record: 13/07/2009

"News International feels it is inappropriate to comment at this time," Wapping goes strangely silent amid the fresh storm over its phone hackery.

Stevie Suns himself

Well done to Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard on his new £125,000-a-week deal. There’ll be no need for him to be calling up the players’ union chief, Gordon Taylor, on his mobile. During his holiday break, Stevie G, was in Ibiza, where I was surprised to see him and his entourage, including wife Alex, passing round a copy of ‘The Sun’ – widely despised on Merseyside – as they enjoyed their patatas fritas at the Blue Marlin beach lounge. To be fair to Steve, he did seem more interested in the ‘Daily Star’ and news of his friend Wayne Rooney’s new V-necked Manchester United shirt.

‘God’ finishes novel

David Abbott is one of Britain’s advertising legends. He founded AMV, this country’s largest ad shop, but the media hangouts of The Ivy, Le Caprice or Langan’s were not for him, as ‘Campaign’ magazine observed in 1997. “A corner table at an unpretentious Greek restaurant...with a good book for company is more his style.”

Back in 2002 he revealed he was writing his own book, a novel, though “I am incredibly slow at it”, he told ‘Ad Week’. You can say that again. Finally, it appears the tome is finished. Let’s hope it’s as good as the ad work of a man once described by Rainey Kelly’s Robert Campbell as “a God”.

Liddle lets rip

In a week when journalists have been turning on each other, one spat has gone little noticed. In ‘The Spectator’ Rod Liddle, pictured, piles into Andrew Gilligan, the reporter he hired when editing the ‘Today’ programme, for doing work for Press TV, a channel funded by the Iranian government. After ringing Gilligan on his holidays to ask how much he was paid, Liddle concludes by telling his old pal (“whose reports I have hitherto always believed”) to “get a f***ing grip”. Not much of a welcome, as Gilligan gets ready to start at ‘The Daily Telegraph’.