If I were a victim of the gross press intrusion, like that which has been reported through the major Leveson Enquiry, (which was ordered by the Prime Minister) I know what I would be thinking of the leader of our so-called democracy. This man, who stated he would be the champion of the victims of horrendous press slander and intrusion, attempted to dilute to virtually nothing, the safeguards proposed against future diabolical media behaviour.
To add insult to injury, Cameron did not want statute to deal with media transgressions, nor any statutory underpinning of the loose Medieval instrument he proposed in place of law, a Royal Charter. Left open and unguarded, a Charter could easily be quietly tampered with by ministers and any effective elements could be neutralised. Who needs a champion like him.... certainly not vulnerable and traduced people!
It speaks volumes for the coalition of the Labour party and the Liberal Democrats, that the preferred inter-party agreement which evolved in the early hours of Monday 18th March 2013, does contain some statutory back-up to counter ministerial interference. Though not perfect, it was,finally hammered out in the office of the Labour Party Leader, Ed Miliband, together with Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, (also leader of the Liberal Democrats) and their various advisers. Oliver Letwin, who we hear little of, and who is Minister of State For Policy, attended on behalf of the Conservative Party. The pressure group, 'Hacked Off,' representing the victims, have noted their approval of this agreement
The media barons still will not like it. They will not easily give up any of the power they have taken, (and been allowed to run with) without any authority to do so.
Cameron can now hold out both palms and say to his media handlers, "Hey boys, I tried to scupper the new regulation, you saw I did". No doubt, he'll be fervently hoping he has done enough to bank sufficient credit with the media barons, for them to 'crown him' as their man - in their news and propaganda media - at the next General Election.
Politics is a very dirty business.
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10 comments:
Cameron is doing so many u turns, he must be quite dizzy. A general rule of thumb seems to be, if he says something is going to happen, you can be sure it won't!.
Watch out for all the 'goodies' that have some cost attached to them, enclosed in Parliamentary bills, that are set to be actioned in 2015 - after the next election. There have been several announcements of that nature. For example, the latest announcement is child care tax relief for two parents working, with children up to the age of five, due to come in, in 2015.
This is setting up bribes to the populace, in order to be elected. Memories may be seen to be short.
Au contraire, dear ZACL, it's a proud day for British democracy and a blow for not just the Murdoch press but the Daily Mail too, and others.
But let's not forget that the muck they have published, by devious and criminal means sometimes, is in response to the democracy of consumer demand which has no scruples in trampling on the private life of innocent people, celebrities or otherwise.
Politicians can be corrupt, so can the Press, so can the police. But we need them all to keep a watch on each other, not cosy up together.
How does one "quietly tamper" with a Royal Charter, though?
Delighted to hear from you Vincent.
Did I specifically mention pride in my democratic allowance of free speech?
I agree that the animal farm will have to be paranoid about what the other animals do, but not to the point where they are allowed to close in on themselves again, to the exclusion of the world outside the Westminster village and the various equivalences of Scotland Yard.
As for the muck spreading in the streets; the papers have appealed to the various appetites they know exist and manipulated them for their profits. As they would have expected, being allowed to push the boundaries, more and more, they got their sales and the manipulated section of the masses, had their prurience titillated.
It has become, through devious, phsychological selling tactics, a catch-22 dear Vincent.
No, you didn't specifically mention pride, but I took the words "grease" and "slime" to imply shame at democracy's day-to-day wheeling and dealing.
Ah, assumption is a wonderful thing, Vincent.
I'm with Jennyta.....xxxxx
I'm not surprised that they've ended up with a typical political fudge! Flighty xx
There is a general consensus appearing on the same front, Snowbird.
Hello Mr F,
Fudge, as a metaphor, is so sweet, and it has never had a worse ongoing press, as far as I can remember.
xx
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