Category: Political Spin
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For a young reporter on the political and industrial beat, the 1970s never let up. There was a cascade of political shocks, unexpected world crises, and a series of grave, self-inflicted wounds by governments of the day.
No wonder I seem to be living in a time warp. Five decades later there is that same relentless pace of events, impacting each other, and again a domino effect.
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Throughout the political chaos of Theresa May’s repeated failure to gain approval for her agreement to leave the European Union, Brexit-supporting newspapers never wavered in their underlying support for Boris Johnson’s hard-line approach.
He was the ever-present cheerleader, a backstop for the pro-Brexit press, waiting in the side-lines, ready to step into the breach to lead the final assault on Brussels to deliver the freedoms promised in the EU Referendum.
At least in the opinion of most Conservative Party members, Johnson became – like Margaret Thatcher or Tony Blair before him – an all-powerful Prime Minister, safe in the knowledge that he and his closest aides were starting out with every chance of being able to command the news agenda and manipulate friendly media outlets.
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Unlike the breakaway SDP of the early 1980s, the Independent Group of former Labour and Conservative MPs has an unparalleled chance to campaign in a way that might well prevent them being squeezed to extinction by the UK’s all-powerful two-party electoral system.
Traditional party loyalties have been well and truly shattered by the European Referendum. The trauma of Brexit has left the support of millions of voters up for grabs.
By announcing their departure six weeks before the March 29 date for the UK’s exit from the EU, the Labour Gang of Seven (now eight), together with three former Conservative MPs, have engineered an ideal opportunity from which to present their demand for a People’s Vote.
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After failing to dent Labour’s general election campaign, Conservative supporting newspapers have found the new government an easier target.
From the start Keir Starmer and his ministers were so focussed on blaming their predecessors for leaving a £22 billion black hole that they relaxed their pre-election grip on trying to influence and manage the news agenda.
Unlike the early months of the Blair government, when Alastair Campbell immediately imposed tight control over the government’s information service, the incoming Starmer administration paid little attention to attempting to forestall potential attack lines from the Tory press.
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Having been at the sharp end of the economic turmoil of the Thatcher decade we industrial reporters knew all about the power and influence being exercised behind the scenes by the Prime Minister’s press secretary
Bernard Ingham.
Our abiding regret is that we never had the chance at the time to interrogate him at first hand over his contempt for the leadership of the trade union movement and his astute manipulation of the news media on Mrs Thatcher’s behalf.
Ingham was without doubt the most successful head of government information of his era, and the last beneficiary of the cover that he and his predecessors enjoyed thanks to the loyalty of political correspondents at Westminster.
Rarely was he identified as the begetter of infamous briefings in Downing Street. Lobby journalists stuck to the rules and attributed information and guidance to unidentified “government sources”.