What part of ‘no’ don’t they understand? Our politicians have proudly unveiled their new plan to license the press, as if this was is in their power to do so. In fact, the press in Britain has been free from political interference for generations. The British government simply does not have the power to regulate the press, so it’s not clear why ministers have wasted their time acting as if this is their problem to solve.
The mechanics of the new charter released today are not the issue. What the politicians propose is a near-duplication of the regulation which the press has already to set up: the £1 million fines, the toughest system in the Western world. The press has already agreed to implement Lord Justice Leveson’s proposals, to the millimetre.
The argument now is about whether the politicians should be allowed to impose regulation on the press for the first time in 300 years – or whether they should whistle Dixie instead.
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