I am inundated with press releases, emails and phone calls from PRs, all wanting to talk about their clients, the latest piece of ‘ground-breaking’ research or a news story so innovative that not to publish would have disastrous consequences.
While some of these communications are useful and thought-provoking, a fair few are, to use the vernacular, total pants. In journalism, we have a number of phrases to describe these releases, from ‘no shit sherlock’ to ‘night follows day’. Decorum prevents me from mentioning the other, swearier, descriptions.
It’s safe to say that Scottish Power’s response to Conservative plans to cap energy prices falls into the ‘night follows day’ news category. Wait, a big six energy provider thinks maximum price caps are a bad idea? Hold the front page!
Under the proposals, which are part of the Tory manifesto, following an election win the Conservatives would permit Ofgem to implement a price ceiling for customers on standard variable tariffs.
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