How close is too close?

David Cameron acquitted himself well at Leveson yesterday, as he does in all such events.  But it was odd to hear him say that there should be ‘more distance’ between politicians and the press. The implication of his comment is that he has been sucked into the brutal realpolitik of the newspaper industry; that he had to spend weekends with Rebekah Brooks or face electoral oblivion; and that the only question for Lord Justice Leveson is why politicians are left in such a position. I look at this in my Telegraph column today.
 
No one forced Cameron to get on LOL-terms with the editor of The Sun. Certainly, he wanted better media relations — especially after the near-death experience of the election-that-never-was in 2007. But rather than convince journalists, he tried to befriend them. His subsequent problems stem from this mistake.
 
Cameron was no media rookie. For seven years he worked for Michael Green at Carlton Communications.