March them Down Again

David Cameron surpassed himself yesterday by his own low standards of political strategy.

By suddenly dissolving the all-party negotiations over Leveson, he has handed himself an inevitable political humiliation on Monday's vote. He has also made the issue of press standards a party political one when it never should have been.

It is hard to unpick his precise reasoning. On the face of it, he did it because, after three months since Judge Brian reported, frustration has grown among backbenchers. Some have laid amendments on other legislation, such as the Defamation Bill and it was just a mtter of time before one was passed.

Dave first threatened to act like some constitutional vandal by dumping those Bills entirely, accusing the opposition members of hijacking the legislation and "grandstanding". But it never looks good, even for the PM, to waste hundreds of hours of Parliamentary time. And last time I looked, the democratic principle allowed MPs to lay amendments and if they were successfully voted for, then the Executive had to bow to the will of Parliament.

He may be taking bad advice from the somewhat inexperienced group of No.10 SpAds. He may just think he will be celebrated as an advocate of press freedom when others, like the DPM, wish to 'shackle' it. Good luck with that. I get the feeling he was just bored of the whole consultation bit and just wanted to exert his authority.

In the ensuing media discussions, the PM's position was supported pretty much uniquely by former executive editor of the NOTW, Neil Wallis (pictured), who called the body representing the victims of his old newspaper's harassment and bullying, nothing more than, "fanatics" and "ayatollahs". Wallis himself will not face charges and he even penned a weepy article about how weally woughly he was tweated by the Criminal Justice system. But the same day Wallis was making clear his trenchant views on various news sofas, the former Ethics Editor of the Press Complaints Committee was arrested for allegations into phone hacking at the Sunday Mirror.

Cameron's position, such as it is, is to have a Royal Charter on regulation but not backed by statute. That means its governance would be held by the Privy Council, in other words senior Ministers whose decisions are not accountable nor even recorded for the public. His boast that it would deliver the "toughest rules on the press we have ever seen" is not saying a lot as we've never had any effective ones before. He will present some proposal on Monday for a late sitting where this whole bally thing can be sorted out.

As one journalist mentioned yesterday, the newspapers who feel a paranoid threat about any form of regulation rarely publish the opinion polls which show overwhelming public support for these measures. Between now and Monday we can expect screaming editorials and opinion pieces which will convince no-one. Patrick Kavanagh in the Sun today said the free press, "has been the defender of the ordinary citizen against the rich and powerful." 

Many ordinary citizens, like the McCanns and Dowlers, had their personal lives destroyed for the sake of circulation figures for the rich and powerful press owners. He even had the gall to use the Hillsborough "cover-up" as a compelling reason for a free press when it his newspaper which printed hateful lies about the Liverpool fans which perpetuated the idea that they were to blame and not the police. 

Some of the comments are frankly laughable. According to the Mail, it is Hugh Grant, their bete noir, who is instructing the shadow cabinet at every stage, "cravenly trying to appease a faded film star with a rackety sex life."

In essence, unfettered press freedom has not enhanced democracy it has damaged it. Whatever the outcome we have been reminded Cameron seems to lack those deal making qualities one could assume a PM would have. The art of the possible they used to call it.

Helter Skelter

So one by-election never sets the future for success. But it can be a damn good indicator for failure.

There used to be a convention of the PM not getting involved in any by-election as any unexpected failure would personally damage their standing. Cameron has never been one for sensible convention and has blithely ploughed his own furrow to disaster.

He even agreed to the Whips office setting up a PMQ where he took a swipe at the less than honest former MP for Eastleigh, Chris Huhne. "I hope all my hon. Friends will join me on the campaign trail in Eastleigh—what I would say to people in Eastleigh is that if they want a straight-talking candidate who does exactly what it says on the tin, Maria Hutchings is a local mum and a fantastic campaigner, and she would make a great Member of Parliament."


The Tories started as odds on favourites and with every Ministerial appearance lost more ground in the polls. The candidate did not help her case by slating state education as not good enough for anyone wishing to become a surgeon.  She was then obviously micro managed by central office which only antagonises the voting public as much as not turning up for debates. She was also advised by that master tactician, IDS to emphasise Huhne's singular quality as a "liar" forgetting that is an attribute most people would asign to any MP.

This seat was only no.12 on the Cons must-win list for the next General Election so to slip to third behind UKIP and the scandal ravaged Lib-Dems was truly a catastrophic outcome. What we are witnessing now is a split on the right equivalent to the one on the left thirty years ago which took over about fifteen years to fix. UKIP are still on the rise and in Nigel Farage they have an excellent communicator who sounds straightforward and succinct when his opponents wriggle and dissemble. Local and Euro elections beckon and Nige can't wait.

But you wouldn't know they were  problem to listen to, Conservative Party Chairman, Grants Schapps's synopsis. His first point was the electorate have voted for a pro Europe candidate when most voted for a Con or UKIP. The issue of the EU is most important to three percent of voters. He also reminded listeners that in 2010 the Conservatives "went on to win the General Election." Er...you didn't and there's the rub.

The remainder of Schapp's nonsense was aimed at the Labour Party who were a distant fourth although held their own while LDs and Cons both lost about 15 points. If his conclusions on the result were so wrong-headed then his suggestion for a remedy could only be utterly worthless.

Osbourne was unable to find any way of changing tack on the economy when UK lost its AAA rating a week ago and now it looks like the Conservatives are entering a whole new episode of division and electoral failure from which there appeears no path of retreat any longer. They keep citing Mrs Thatcher and her determination to stick to the task. What the current PM is confusing is political resolution and pure bloody mindeness based on unassailable arrogance.