How much further are we going to be pushed around by a hardline, self-serving, unregenerate cabal of newspaper owners masquerading under the figleaf of press freedom when their real motive is the preservation at any cost of their own power and non-accountability? Leveson conducted a year’s intense inquiry into press regulation after the huge phone-hacking […]
Posts Tagged ‘Leveson Inquiry’
Leveson at the crossroads
Mar 14th, 2013 by Michael Meacher.Ed Miliband promised in November that, if the Government hadn’t given their blessing to the broad range of Leveson’s proposals and in particular the need for statutoryunderpinning, he would force a vote in the Commons by 31 January which with the support of the LibDems he might be expected to win.
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If Cameron & Co. get their way, how would it be different at the next McCann/Dowler scandal?
Dec 3rd, 2012 by Michael Meacher.There are 3 possible positions on the central issue of division on the Leveson report. One is the press industry’s view, and presumably Cameron’s, namely a stronger version of the Hunt-Black proposals for independent self-regulation which could incorporate many of the Leveson principles, but crucially would be voluntary and depend on the industry coming together […]
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Leveson’s framework is fine, but is it enforceable?
Nov 30th, 2012 by Michael Meacher.Today’s initial debate on the Leveson recommendations (full debate next Monday) was one of Parliament’s better performances – listening without barracking, thoughtful, exposing the fault-lines clearly but without tribal partisanship. Leveson in an encyclopaedic 2,000 page report laid out proposals which are manifestly reasonable, balanced and proportionate. The press should come together to create a new […]
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How does one stop over-cosy relationships between politicians and media moguls?
May 31st, 2012 by Michael Meacher.Andy Coulson’s arrest for alleged perjury in the Tommy Sheridan trial isn’t just an embarrassment for Cameron. It raises a much wider and more difficult issue: how can a deeply insidious, unhealthy and toxic relationship between politicians and media proprietors – specifically the Tories (Thatcher), New Labour (Blair), the Tories again (Cameron) and Murdoch – […]
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It’s not Hunt’s neck that’s now on the line, it’s Cameron’s
May 13th, 2012 by Michael Meacher.The evidence revealing the inappropriately close relationship between Cameron and News International in the run-up to the BSkyB bid gathered pace in the last two days with the appearance of Coulson and Brooks before Leveson. First, there was Cameron’s insouciance about hiring Coulson to No.10 without thorough checks on what he may have known about […]
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Why should the PM control access to the independent adviser on ministerial interests?
Apr 29th, 2012 by Michael Meacher.What if Cameron refuses to refer the Hunt case to Sir Alex Allen, the independent adviser on ministerial interests? Not for the first time Parliament is hamstrung by the fact that under current procedures it is accepted that only the Prime Minister is empowered, whether on the conduct of a Minister or on a policy […]
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Leveson chain reaction will reach No.10
Apr 26th, 2012 by Michael Meacher.In typically British Establishment manner Adam Smith, chief of staff to Jeremy Hunt, fell on his sword but not before uttering the the ritual words required to exculpate his master: “the content and extent of my contact (with News International) was done without authorisation from the Secretary of State”. Pull the other one. For over […]
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News International upholds probity? So be it
Mar 26th, 2012 by David Osler.The righteous, so the rabbinical maxim has it, have their work done for them. After yesterday’s Sunday Times so perfectly skewered the venality of the Conservative Party, all the average lefty need do is sit back with a big wide smirk on his or her face. Some commentators are suggesting that this operation was carefully […]
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Neither state control nor uncontrolled licence: there is a better way for the media
Jan 19th, 2012 by Michael Meacher.I’m not sure what is the correct collective noun for a pack of editors whingeing, but they were certainly in full cry yesterday at the Leveson inquiry. It’s a pity it didn’t reflect the extraordinarily candid, and accurate, admission in The Times yesterday that News International was “unable or unwilling to police itself” and that […]
