Gransnet forums

News & politics

Censorship / Restrictions of freedom of the press

(119 Posts)
GagaJo Mon 03-Feb-20 16:21:34

Journalists walked out of a Downing Street briefing on Boris Johnson’s Brexit plans after the prime minister’s director of communications tried to restrict it to selected publications and broadcasters.

An invitation sent out by Number 10 offered a “technical background briefing” on the PM’s plans to negotiate a Canadian-style free trade agreement with the EU by the end of the year.

But when political correspondents from various outlets arrived inside Number 10, they were asked their names and told to stand in two groups on opposite sides of the entrance hall.

Director of communications Lee Cain then invited those on one side to enter and told those on the other to leave.

Asked to explain why Downing Street was denying access to some publications - including The Independent - he replied: “We are welcome to brief whoever we want whenever we want.”

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-brexit-news-journalists-walk-out-no-10-briefing-a9314996.html

GracesGranMK3 Mon 03-Feb-20 18:21:31

Sorry, that should read - 1933 and after.

MaizieD Mon 03-Feb-20 18:25:20

No 10 trying to put a spin on this:

After the walkout, a senior No 10 source said there was a normal briefing for all lobby journalists after the prime minister’s speech and that the later one was a “smaller, selected briefing for specialist senior journalists”.

The source said “a number of uninvited journalists barged into No 10 and demanded to be part of it” but were told they could not attend.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/feb/03/political-journalists-boycott-no-10-briefing-after-reporter-ban

If this was true, why would the 'invited' journalists walk out as well? hmm

suziewoozie Mon 03-Feb-20 18:30:42

Chestnut so your views on No 10’s behaviour today are....?

Chestnut Mon 03-Feb-20 18:53:44

suziewoozie: Chestnut so your views on No 10’s behaviour today are....?
I imagine the same as everyone else's.....totally unacceptable. Why would you even ask that? ?

Barmeyoldbat Tue 04-Feb-20 17:50:26

Terrible behaviour from no 10, Boris or his mouth piece, is acting like a dictator.

POGS Tue 04-Feb-20 20:13:23

I am no hypocrite so I think this was a big mistake by No 10 and they deserve criticism.

I do find the irony however in Keir Starmer and Labour railing against the decision to what could be termed as ' no platforming ' when only days ago Keir Starmer said :-

" I certainly won’t be giving any interviews to The Sun during the course of this campaign.”
---

The rot needs stopping by ALL political parties who refuse to allow questioning by a cross section of the media, allow their supporters to bray at journalists for asking difficult questions and certainly look at their own behaviour.

Watching and hearing the abuse both verbally and written by those who do not like a certain journalist is a tawdry affair too. Argue what they say but if abuse is all you have in your musket youv'e lost the argument before you start.

It is the ' duty' of No 10, indeed politicians from ALL parties, to be open, fair and expect to be challenged and except that goes with the territory.

Labaik Tue 04-Feb-20 21:14:56

I don't think you can compare what the Conservatives did yesterday to someone not wishing to be interviewed by a newspaper that some parts of the country even refuse to sell because it's so disgusting.

Eloethan Tue 04-Feb-20 21:23:31

Kier Starmer and Labour are not the government. Do you not wish to have access to information from all sides as to what is happening in government - or do you want a select few cheer leaders to be responsible for conveying that information?

Urmstongran Tue 04-Feb-20 21:25:17

Still no doubt Johnson’s fan club on here will be acting as his apologists for this behaviour

As a Boris fan, I want to say I am appalled by this sw.

It’s the thin end of the wedge. Truly shocking.

Joelsnan Tue 04-Feb-20 22:04:52

No Boris fan but.,
I find it a bit odd that all of those journalist were at the press briefing held at Greenwich a little later on. If you watch on You Tube you will see them all there and Boris took questions from journalists at the end of his briefing.
I wonder why they didn't boycott this meeting because they had been treated so badly earlier.

Does anyone know why the Brexit Day message from Boris was not broadcast on the major TV channels. I thought that a bit odd too.

suziewoozie Tue 04-Feb-20 22:09:09

POGS what an absolutely ridiculous false equivalence you’ve drawn. Do you actually know that BJ is the PM, as in Head of the Government and was trying, through his henchmen, to limit access by certain parts of the press to briefings that should be open to all ? FFS - have this ??for chief apologist

POGS Tue 04-Feb-20 22:12:54

Labaik Tue 04-Feb-20 21:14:56

'I don't think you can compare what the Conservatives did yesterday to someone not wishing to be interviewed by a newspaper that some parts of the country even refuse to sell because it's so disgusting.'
--

I think you can compare what parties/individual politicians do especially if they are criticising others.

Your post proves that because of your ' personal ' feelings/attitude you would think it perfectly acceptable for a politician to pick and choose who he/she gives an audience to which is ironic given the OP is asking about Censorship Restrictions/ Freedom of the Press.

At least I made it perfect clear that I thought it was completely wrong in general and ' ALL' parties should accept it is their duty to be interviewed, give an audience to ALL the media.

Trump/Starmer/Johnson et al are politicians and if somebody thinks it is not acceptable for one but it is for another to refuse to be interviewed or ask a question then the only conclusion is their partisan politics gives rise to hypocrisy.

POGS Tue 04-Feb-20 22:17:38

Eloethan Tue 04-Feb-20 21:23:31

'Kier Starmer and Labour are not the government. Do you not wish to have access to information from all sides as to what is happening in government - or do you want a select few cheer leaders to be responsible for conveying that information?'
-
Read my post for your answer without twisting my opinion please.

I said

' I am no hypocrite so I think this was a big mistake by No 10 and they deserve criticism.'

' It is the ' duty' of No 10, indeed politicians from ALL parties, to be open, fair and expect to be challenged and except that goes with the territory.'

POGS Tue 04-Feb-20 22:28:59

suziewoozie Tue 04-Feb-20 22:09:09

'POGS what an absolutely ridiculous false equivalence you’ve drawn. Do you actually know that BJ is the PM, as in Head of the Government and was trying, through his henchmen, to limit access by certain parts of the press to briefings that should be open to all ? 'FFS - have this ??for chief apologist'
----

Don't you dare twist my post and as for:-

'FFS - have this ??for chief apologist'

I think that speaks volumes about your style of posting and I hope your post remains in situ, I certainly won't report your abusive wording.

An ' apologist' would not state No 10 deserved criticism or thought they have a ' duty' to be interviewed, give an audience to All in the media.

What you and others are upset about is I dared to broaden the OP topic, raise a point in question but it upset the cart because it did not fall in line with you.

Labaik Tue 04-Feb-20 23:08:32

I like to think that I don't let personal feelings influence what I feel to be right or wrong. And must also point out that I'm not a Labour Party member.

Chestnut Tue 04-Feb-20 23:35:27

I agree it's best to leave the offensive posts POGS as it shows people's true colours. There's a lot of twisted meanings on here but the permanently offended need to create something they can complain about.

Yehbutnobut Wed 05-Feb-20 07:09:57

“Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings have been forced to take the only course of action open to any sensible sociopath. Having already disengaged from the BBC’s Today programme and ITV’s Good Morning Britain – who wants to explain to 7 million people why Priti Patel doesn’t understand the difference between terrorism and counter-terrorism? – the government is now steadily distancing itself from all other media outlets. It can’t be long before there is only one second-rate journalist left – other than Boris – to report the news as Downing Street would like it to be.”

Sounds like John Crace has their measure.

Nezumi65 Wed 05-Feb-20 07:17:39

John Crace is good. Here’s another quote from him (& interesting that he was not allowed into Johnson’s statement). Sounds as if he is banning press left right & centre

Boris had only just started, though. There was to be no talk of a no-deal Brexit. From now on, no deal would simply be referred to as the Australian model. In that no Australian trade deal with the EU actually existed. It was pure genius. Boris could eliminate cancer from the world merely by renaming it. Why had no one thought of that before? This was the kind of innovation that was going to put the Little back into Great Britain

Nezumi65 Wed 05-Feb-20 07:22:41

Just read that whole John Crace piece you have quoted from yeahbutnobut

It’s terrifying really.

Yehbutnobut Wed 05-Feb-20 07:28:52

Love his description of Boris as a ‘Poundland Trump’!

Hetty58 Wed 05-Feb-20 07:35:54

Brilliant - sums him up perfectly!

Nezumi65 Wed 05-Feb-20 07:42:36

I see Michael Spicer has managed a Priti Patel room next door youtu.be/xk4EMBXxG5A

I am looking to Michael Spicer to get me through these dark times! youtu.be/xk4EMBXxG5A

Grany Wed 05-Feb-20 08:50:39

Twitter
@PippaCrerar political editor

@DailyMirror
My last word on this - I felt deeply uncomfortable being left to stand on one side of the room while colleagues' names were read out one-by-one and they joined the group who were deemed "acceptable" by No 10. Sinister and sad.

He is your frankenstein, your creation that you the media pushed to get into power, so you really cannot complain that he is dictating and manipulating you all. The MSM have allowed him to get away with such a lot including racism, so he does what he likes including to the media.

Well THANK GOD nothing like this has ever happened anywhere else where Steve Bannon has advised a rich, fat, deluded bigoted right-wing strong-man leader with weird hair who regularly speaks gibberish, lies all the time, scapegoats the vulnerable and throws dead cats around...

Urmstongran Wed 05-Feb-20 09:28:07

While you mention Priti Patel Yehbutnobut shall it be brought up that Rebecca Long Bailey described someone as being ‘like a vegetable’?

Pots & kettles indeed.

Nezumi65 Wed 05-Feb-20 09:57:49

Rebecca LB is bloody awful imo. But that doesn’t really distract from the fact we have a Home Secretary who doesn’t appear to understand the difference between terrorism and counter-terrorism.

If RBL ever becomes leader then labour will not be in government so whether or not she is stupid is unlikely to affect us. Priti Patel not being up to the job is relevant.