Cameron To Rat Over Leveson

Just how secure do Young Dave and his jolly good chaps feel, now that they have their Parliamentary majority and a supposedly useless opposition leader? The answer is that they do not, and are so concerned that they will need their pals in the press to play cheerleader for them in future elections that Cameron is prepared to rat on a promise he gave, to the House of Commons, regarding the Leveson Inquiry.

This is what Dave told the House of Leveson’s report: “Lord Justice Leveson sets out proposals for independent self-regulation organised by the media … He details the key ‘requirements’ that an independent self-regulatory body should meet, including: independence of appointments and funding; a standards code; an arbitration service; and a speedy complaint-handling mechanism - crucially it must have the power to demand up-front, prominent apologies and impose million-pound fines”.

He went on “These are the Leveson principles … They are the central recommendations of the report … If they can be put in place, we truly will have a regulatory system that delivers public confidence, justice for the victims, and a step-change in the way the press is regulated in our country. I accept these principles and I hope the whole House will come behind them and the onus should now be on the press to implement them and implement them radically”. That is an unequivocal commitment.

However, and here we encounter a significantly sized however, the right-leaning part of the press, most of which supports the Tories, is now screaming blue murder at the prospect of provisions in the Crime And Courts Act leaving them liable to pay both sides’ costs if they refuse to use a low-cost arbitration service, denying this option to claimants and thereby forcing them to risk betting the house - perhaps literally - on securing redress.

Now has come the news that the Tories are so scared shitless of the Fourth Estate that they are seriously considering refusing to table the relevant provisions in that Crime And Courts Act in order to appease the press and so continue to receive slavish and uncritical treatment from our allegedly free and fearless press, at least until the next General Election, which they will therefore hope to win, partly as a result of that coverage.

You think I jest? Culture Secretary John Whittingdale has today said “I have to say that at the moment, I am not convinced the time is right for the introduction of these costs provisions … Given the changes under way within the industry, the introduction of the new exemplary damages provisions, and the pressures on the industry, I question whether this additional step, now, will be positive and will lead to the changes I want to see”.

Think about that. All those fine words put on record. All those commitments to the victims of press misbehaviour. All the talk of cross-party consensus. But now, our brave Prime Minister is willing to rat on his commitment, and does not even have the backbone to come clean and say so, leaving the deed to Whittingdale. But if Cameron thinks this will se him right, he’s got another think coming. He’ll be OK only until the press mess up again.

Next time, there will be no ifs and no buts. And he will not come out of it well.