The week ahead: Mulcaire, the Queen’s speech and Rebekah Brooks at Leveson

On Tuesday disgraced private investigator Glenn ‘Trigger’ Mulcaire continues to fight an order compelling him to reveal the names of News International bosses who ordered the wonder-goal scorer to hack the phones of numerous victims of crime, as well as the criminals themselves, slebs, PR executives and philandering Labour politicians. The Supreme Court hearing will be the former AFC Wimbledon star’s third attempt to overturn the order, before, if defeated once more, he’ll no doubt turn to the News of the World’s erstwhile friend – the European Court of Human Rights.

Fresh from his symbolic jail term after a conviction for contempt of court in Pakistan, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani comes to London on for a short visit in which he meets with our own embattled PM and attends the inaugural Annual Review Meeting of the Enhanced Strategic Dialogue.

On Wednesday, The Queen abandons her tour of the provinces to open the next session of Parliament and deliver her ceremonial speech, in which she’ll lay out the Government’s legislative agenda for the coming year. With the decision apparently having been taken that reforming the House of Lords is the most pressing parliamentary issue, the real issue today could be what’s not in Her Majesty’s speech.

Twitter’s Tom Watson and the Independent’s Martin Hickman take to the stage at the London School of Economics on Wednesday, where they engage in some more gratuitous navel-gazing to discuss their book ‘Dial M for Murdoch’, a hard-hitting expose of the phone-hacking saga. The Portal 2 aficionado and Labour campaign coordinator’s book analyses the hacking story and impact of News International’s demise, and, according to one intrepid ursine blogger, rather undermines his committee’s investigation into the matter.

A panel of dastardly judges from the ‘disgraceful’ European Court of Human Rights also meets on Wednesday to decide whether the case of Osama bin Laden-sidekick Abu Qatada should be referred to the court’s Grand Chamber. The calendar-deprived Theresa May and the Home Office appeared to have given Qatada’s legal team another chance to appeal against his extradition to Jordan two weeks ago when he was arrested just shy of the European court’s official deadline for an appeal to be tabled (cue comic blow on the swanee).

Bringing to an end what’s been an otherwise unbroken run of good headlines for the Government of late, Thursday sees a good old-fashioned walkout by civil service workers angry at changes to public sector pensions. Taking part are the Public and Commercial Services Union’s civil service members, RMT’s Royal Fleet Auxiliary members, Unite’s health and civil service members, and, as a helpful late addition, members of the Immigration Services Union, whose show of brotherly solidarity could seriously affect the country’s reportedly already-heaving airport queues.

David Cameron’s former man of the people Andy Coulson appears at the Leveson Inquiry on Thursday, where’ll he’ll be able to give his side of the story for the first time since his arrest over phone-hacking allegations back in July of last year. The former spin doctor and News of the World editor was said to have helped the PM locate the elusive common touch during his time as director of comms, something that seems to have evaporated in a puff of pastry since the Budget. More set-piece moments are to be expected on Friday when equestrian-sharer and former News International CEO Rebekah Brooks appears, potentially armed with private texts between herself and Cameron. No wonder the Government’s asked Leveson if it can get a sneak peek.

Elsewhere on Friday, Central European heads of state gather in Yalta as Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych hosts a summit that’s so far achieved the dubious honour of having been boycotted by several major international figures. German Presidential freshman Johann Gauck, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and the presidents of the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Austria have all turned down their invites over the continued detention of formidably-coiffured opposition leader and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on what are seen to be trumped-up, politically-motivated charges.

If there’s something in the air on Saturday, it’s not just the smell of unwashed tents and the sound of bongo drums – it’s Occupy London’s Global Spring, a day of action marking the birth of the Spanish indignados movement and the continuing subjugation of the masses by the tax-evading, profit-making ‘1%’.

Meanwhile North London intellectuals are staging their own day of action on Saturday at the Progress annual conference, where Labour Party leader Ed Miliband and assorted Shadow Cabinet members will be trying to figure out how to win the new centre ground.

Sunday‘s back page headlines write themselves this week: it’s squeaky bum time in the Premier League again. The climactic round of fixtures could also see a new Mind Games King crowned if Roberto ‘the title race is over‘ Mancini leads Manchester City to a first championship since 1968.

And finally, there’ll be bunting and jam sandwiches galore in Windsor on Sunday when The Queen and Prince Philip attend the ‘grand finale’ of the town’s three day Diamond Jubilee Pageant, which should serve as a good warm-up for the main event next month.

Topics in this article : Journalism