Nick Clegg is 'beyond the tentacles of Murdoch'

Former Sun editor David Yelland writing in the Guardian today says the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg is "beyond the tentacles" of Rupert Murdoch and his family.
He writes: "I doubt if Rupert Murdoch watched the election debate last week. His focus is very firmly on the United States, especially his resurgent Wall Street Journal. But if he did, there would have been one man totally unknown to him. One man utterly beyond the tentacles of any of his family, his editors or his advisers. That man is Nick Clegg.
"Make no mistake, if the Liberal Democrats actually won the election – or held the balance of power – it would be the first time in decades that Murdoch was locked out of British politics. In so many ways, a vote for the Lib Dems is a vote against Murdoch and the media elite."
Yelland says that in his five years of editing the Sun he did not once meet a Lib Dem leader, even though he met Tony Blair and the leaders of the Tory party on "countless occasions".
 He adds: "The fact is that much of the print press in this country is entirely partisan and always has been. All proprietors and editors are part of the 'great game'. The trick is to ally yourself with the winner and win influence or at least the ear of the prime minister.
"The consequence of this has been that the middle party has been ignored, simply because it was assumed it would never win power. After all, why court a powerless party?"