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Speaker's call for an end to ministerial leaks: Downing Street's new media chief could play a role
Nicholas Jones
DATELINE: 24/6/09
Simon Lewis, the newly-appointed director of communications in Downing Street, might be forgiven for thinking his only role will be to pull down the shutters on the last chance saloon for the Labour Party's discredited spin doctors.
But although the Prime Minister has probably less than a year in power, Lewis does have an opportunity to turn a new page in the government's relationship with the news media and roll back the abuses which were institutionalised by Alastair Campbell and which spawned the Damian McBride scandal.
If Lewis wants to make an impact when he takes office in July, he could give an immediate welcome to the declaration by the new Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, that ministerial statements revealing key policy decisions should be made first to Parliament and not leaked before hand to the news media.
For a start Lewis could try to do what he can to ensure that in future the flow of information from the state to the media is conducted with the same degree of transparency which Brown is promising for the accountability and scrutiny of MPs' expenses.
Campbell was congratulated – and rightly so – on the decision he made early on in his stint as Tony Blair's director of communications to publish on the Downing Street website a transcript of the guidance he was giving at the twice-daily briefings for lobby correspondents.
Lewis, who became the Queen's communications secretary after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, could break new ground by introducing procedures to provide all journalists with equal access to information about government decisions and statements.
Ensuring a level playing field will be an essential first step if Speaker Bercow is to deliver on his pledge to "seize back control" for the House of Commons by making sure that ministers are "obliged to make key policy statements" first in the chamber.
That would require a more formal procedure too in Downing Street and instead of allowing Labour's spin doctors to continue trailing and spinning sensitive announcements in advance by way of preferential deals with favoured political correspondents, Lewis could put all news organisations on an equal footing – a breakthrough for which Buckingham Palace can claim credit.
After serving for two years as the Queen's head of press relations, Lewis knows full well the challenge which the Prime Minister faces in trying to curb inaccurate and irresponsible reporting.
In 2002 Buckingham Palace ensured "equality of access" for royal correspondents by releasing daily information about the Queen's golden jubilee celebrations on the Palace website; accredited correspondents gained access by means of a password.
In recent years there have been repeated examples of how sensitive public information has been released on websites at specified times – ensuring simultaneous access for all journalists. Downing Street and Whitehall should follow suit.
With perhaps not more than ten months to go to the general election Lewis will have his work cut out advising Brown on how best to construct -- and let alone communicate -- a meaningful narrative about the government's progress in getting Britain out of the recession and back on the road to recovery.
But equally he should not overlook the nuts and bolts of the Downing Street press office and he needs to get a grip on the anonymous and unauthorised briefings which have caused the Prime Minister so much grief.
The constant advance trailing of ministerial announcements -- which amounts to the institutionalised leaking of government information – has not only proved to be divisive and counter-productive but has also undermined the authority of Parliament and the public's faith in the political process.
Within months of entering Downing Street in 1997, Alastair Campbell succeeded, with Blair's support, in re-rewriting the rules for the government information service; civil service information officers were instructed to trail announcements ahead of parliamentary statements in order to "grab the agenda".
In effect it has been the seventy of so politically-appointed special advisers who have done most of the trailing. With – and sometimes without – the approval of their ministers, they have distributed this largesse on an anonymous basis to selected news organisations.
If the release of confidential and sensitive data could be properly co-ordinated by Downing Street and Whitehall, it would be possible to curb and perhaps even eliminate much of the unofficial briefing which has undoubtedly proved a boon for political correspondents but which has only underlined the pitfalls for any government in trying to manipulate the news media.Because Labour's coterie of special advisers were allowed to take control of the process, forcing civil service information officers to take a back seat, the lack of discipline resulted in the kind of anonymous character assassination which culminated in Damian McBride's fabricated smears against the Leader of the Opposition and the Shadow Chancellor.
Unlike Campbell or Brown's former director of communications David Hill, Simon Lewis is not a political appointee and he has taken up a two-year civil service contract. His status as a civil servant – barring him from party political work – will be an advantage and give him greater authority if he tries to reinforce civil service standards on the release of government information.
Speaker Bercow could be a powerful ally in bringing some discipline to the Downing Street media machine because his wish to see announcements made first in parliament will strengthen the hand of Lewis in policing the release of information.
In his manifesto to for the election of the new Speaker, Bercow said he believed the House of Commons would be strengthened if the chair had the power to instruct that Parliament should be the first to be informed – a point he reinforced immediately on his successful election by MPs.
Bercow said the demands of the 24-hour news media had made it worse for Parliament. Ministers had become lead suppliers of new items and "aided and abetted" by the departmental machine, policy announcements had reduced to "essentially a joust between the media and ministers" and MPs were at best bit-part players.If possible, Bercow would like the Speaker to have the formal power to require a minister to make an oral statement to the House. He could make a start by taking a leaf out the book of his predecessor Betty Boothroyd.
During the first thee years of the Blair government she made a valiant effort to stop the advance leaking of ministerial statements. She issued six separate rulings against ministers she had caught disclosing detailed information to the news media before delivering statement to the House.
When I made inquiries for my book The Control Freaks, I discovered that in all six cases the trail of responsibility for leaking the contents of each announcement led back directly to the No.10 press office and to instructions issued in the name of Campbell by the Downing Street strategic communications unit.
Simon Lewis could make a name for himself – and so could John Bercow – if they succeeded in cleaning up the Downing Street spin machine. Perhaps Gordon Brown could join in: there is no parliamentary offence for ministers and advisers caught leaking their own statements. Perhaps a change in the ministerial code might not come amiss.
Speaker Bercow has set himself quite a challenge and in taking on the Downing Street spin machine he in danger of repeating the mistake of his predecessor Speaker Michael Martin who said repeatedly he wanted to stop the advance leaking of ministerial announcements but never followed it up by decisive action.
Last modified: Wednesday, June 24, 2009
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Notices
Events & Announcements
World Press Freedom Day
More reporters are currently imprisoned in Turkey than in any other country in the world. Only a matter of weeks ago lawyers failed to persuade a Turkish court to release a 76-year-old journalist from a Turkish internet news station.
World Press Freedom Day on Friday May 3, 2013 is being marked in Britain by a rally to highlight the dangers facing journalists in Turkey and in this podcast, Nicholas Jones speaks to Barry White, Organiser at the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, and Sam Bamford, the TUC's policy officer for Eastern Europe and Africa about the importance of a campaign to highlight international press freedom.
The World Press Freedom Day rally is being staged by the National Union of Journalists at the NUJ head office, Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1 on Thursday May 2, 6pm-8pm.
DATELINE: 27/4/13
UK launch of EU media campaign
DATELINE: 13/3/13
The UK launch of a 'European Citizens' Initiative' calling for EU rules against concentration of media power will take place on Thursday March 21 from 11:00am – 12:30pm in Committee Room 4A at the House of Lords, London. Guest speakers will include actor and activist Hugh Grant (pictured), media consultant Claire Enders, Professor Steven Barnett, Barry McCall (President of the NUJ) and Marc Gruber (Director of the European Federation of Journalists).
A European Citizens' Initiative is an official petition, like a Downing Street petition. If it succeeds in gathering a million signatures across the EU, the Commission is obliged to respond.
This petition calls for the EU to act to protect media pluralism and press freedom.
CPBF Annual General Meeting
DATELINE: 1/3/13
Make a note in your diary
Saturday 13 July 2013 from 10.00am
NUJ HQ, 308/312 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1.
Leveson, media ownership, CPBF future work.
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DATELINE: 26/3/10
Download Freepress in PDF, ePub or mobi format. Issue 194 now available.
MEDIA FOR ALL CONFERENCE
DATELINE: 26/3/10
Papers from the Media for All Conference
MEDIA MANIFESTO
DATELINE: 26/3/10
The media’s job is to inform and entertain us but we rely on them too to tell us what our rulers and representatives are up to. In the run-up to the Iraq war the government used spin and disinformation in the media to create panic and mislead people. The truth is coming out now, but we need stronger, more independent media to be able to scrutinise governments and make informed choices.
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Previous stories
Government Policy
Photographers snap into action over new law
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Media gagged in the case of Daniel James
Does convergence matter?
Civil servant faces official secrets trial
New Threat to Media Freedom
Blair's farewell: No politician can live by spin alone
Government response to Public Voice Petition on Digital Dividend
New Media services should not be regulated like TV, says Lords Committee
IFJ Alarmed by Western Attacks on Whistleblowers and Investigative Journalism
Current Affairs and Ofcom
From The Files
Minister backs BBC Arabic TV
Terror Bill 'a threat to press freedom' says CPBF
Inquiry into new media and the creative industries
OFT and Magazine Distribution
Sewn Up: Media Policy Excludes Public
Important Campaign pamphlets available...
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The future of non-commercial local radio & tv
BBC Charter review hearings
