Rupert Murdoch has called for a "full independent inquiry" into the donor party scandal currently bringing pressure on David Cameron, in what some have seen as an attempt by the media mogul to gain revenge for an inquiry into press ethics.
Posting on the social networking site Twitter, the News Corporation boss praised the "great Sunday Times scoop" which revealed a Tory party co-treasurer offering privileged access to the prime minister, and influence over policy, in exchange for £250,000.
"What was Cameron thinking? No-one, rightly or wrongly, will believe his story," Murdoch said.
Tory deputy chairman Michael Fallon has insisted no donations to the party could ever influence its policies. "I think [Cruddas] was blustering and boasting. No donation was accepted," he said.
Downing Street has so far refused to release the full list of who the prime minister has dined with in his flat, arguing that the details are a private matter.
The tweets have been interpreted by some as a somewhat gleeful public attack on the prime minister in the wake of the phone hacking scandal that led to the closure of the News of the World and the setting up of the Leveson Inquiry into the activities of the press.
Murdoch's News Corporation owns The Sunday Times as well as The Times, The Sun and the newly launched Sun On Sunday which replaced the NotW.
Murdoch's message was something of a "pox on all your houses" approach to the British political class as he the referenced the the cash-for-peerages row during Tony Blair's time as prime minister, in which Labour was accused of selling places in the House of Lords in exchange for large donations.
"Cameron should have just followed history and flogged some seats in the Lords, if they still have value! precedents of centuries," he said.
He added: "Of course there must be a full independent inquiry on both sides. In great detail, and with consequences. Trust must be established."
Murdoch's final words on the row gave an ominous warning: "Without trust, democracy, and order will go."
His comments are a far cry from the public backing given to Cameron and the Conservative Party by The Sun in the run-up to the 2010 general election, having concluded Labour "failed the country".