A sign of the Times

Yesterday, The Times produced its first Christmas Day edition for more than a century – since, that is, newsagents started taking that day off. The jewel in that edition was a wonderfully spirited piece from my Spectator colleague Matthew Parris about the importance of paywalls. I fervently believe in them, and regard them as the only hope for this sharply contracting industry. But over to Matthew:

“‘Sorry, I can’t read you anymore, but I refuse on principle to subscribe now that there’s a paywall,’ these muppets whine. ‘On principle?’ I reply. ‘What principle?’ As they fumble for an argument, I interrupt: ‘Look, maybe the money is a bit tight at present: I quite understand that. In fact, if it would cheer you up, I’d be glad to get you a drink at the bar – except that there’s a paywall in pubs and bars in this country. So there’s obviously a principle to be upheld here… Greedy graspers that they are, they take the view that as they’ve had to shell out for the wines and spirits they serve and pay the bar staff’s wages, they actually want customers to make a contribution to their costs.