Polly Toynbee
Miliband means to lift politics and press out of the gutter, appealing to common decency – tough call.
by Polly Toynbee
Bully, coward, hypocrite, shameless, remorseless, ruthless, malignant — add your epithets for the Mail here. In London’s Guy’s hospital, at the private memorial event for Professor Harry Keen, distinguished diabetes consultant, a Mail on Sunday reporter took the hand of his close relative and offered her deepest condolences. Then she tried to pummel views out of guests about Ed Miliband’s father, hoping for some juicy follow-up to their “man who hated Britain” assault.
I knew Harry Keen, since he set up the NHS Support Federation in 1989 to oppose Margaret Thatcher’s purchaser-provider reforms. Shortly before he died we spoke at the same meeting, where he told a moving story.
As a young GP he visited a sick child whose mother tried to send him away, unable to afford the medicine. It was the very day the NHS was born and he described that mother’s amazed relief when he said he could treat all her family for free for ever. Keen fought passionately against the dismantling of the NHS and I imagine he might relish the row over the Mail’s despicable behaviour at his memorial. But his is not a story to warm the cockles of the Mail’s heart.
Outraged, Miliband wrote to the Mail’s owner, Lord Rothermere, and two reporters were suspended. It’s not uncommon in the more savage newsrooms for reporters sent on unspeakable missions to take the rap if it all blows up. Paul Dacre of the Mail never explains, never apologises – and is said to have tried to stop the Mail on Sunday’s editor backing down.
Never forget, Dacre is guardian of the nation’s journalistic ethics as chair of the editors’ code of practice committee, the self-regulation he is fighting to keep along with most of the press. Miliband supports a royal charter agreed by all three parties that would be entirely independent of both press and politicians.
So this is war, no holds barred and extraordinarily dangerous for Labour. The fight with the Mail is not of Miliband’s making, but he has nothing much to lose — and, just possibly, much to gain.
Once he dared to take on the frightening might of Rupert Murdoch by calling for a public inquiry into the hacking scandal, the die was cast. David Cameron couldn’t refuse and the Leveson process began — to the alarm of most of the press. Miliband went further, demanding new press ownership laws to stop Murdoch domination of some 40 percent of press readership plus Sky.
That fits the Miliband template for breaking up cartels and monopolies to make markets function better for the consumer. That’s not socialism, but heeding Adam Smith’s warnings of business conspiracy. There’s no retreat now, no role left but Daniel in the lions’ den.
How those lions roared at his conference speech, a reminder of how a few press barons dominate Britain’s daily discourse. The Mail splashed, “Back to the bad old days … Red Ed revives 70s socialism”. The Daily Express: “Return of Red Ed as Labour lurches Left”. The Sun went with “Red Ed power cut fear”; the Times, now equally on Murdoch message, “Blackout threat over Miliband’s fuel pledge”; while the Telegraph opted for “Miliband’s ‘Stalinist’ plan to seize land for homes and build on fields”.
Here’s the big question: can Labour ever win against the browbeating of Britain’s 80 percent right-wing press? Tony Blair, scarred by the monstering of Neil Kinnock, grovelled to the Sun before the election and crossed the world to bend to News Corp executives. That’s why Labour triangulated, ducked and dived to neutralise the worst.
It worked, more or less, at high cost. Even on departing, when Blair finally called the press “feral”, he only dared name the gentle Independent. Gordon Brown’s approach was achingly, tragically pathetic, the bullied boy licking the boots that kicked him, courting Dacre ceaselessly. Worst of all, he invited Dacre to the funeral of his daughter. Did that bind the old monster to Labour’s cause? Of course not.
Miliband seeks attention for his assaults on powerful vested interests — but will they trample him underfoot?
He thinks things have changed since 1997: people are angrier about the powers-that-be. Politicians and journalists are equally reviled, so standing outside the establishment is the place to be.
Miliband ends the conference season confident that he made the weather, his speech set the agenda, his intervention on Syria prevented US bombing.
His cost of living crisis is what Cameron forgot in his speech, now rushing out briefings to the Times with rail fare and bank fee promises. Miliband means to lift politics and press out of the gutter, appealing to common decency — tough call.
And yet — the Red Ed framing is dangerous. The stronger he gets, the more relentless will be the character assassination, smears and mockery. Will enough people rally to an anti-establishment cause and ignore these foghorn harassers? Not since 1945 has Labour beaten a formidable press red scare. He will need escape velocity to get ahead of the hounds at his heels, and that needs a noisy and imaginative campaign on the side of citizens, against the business baronies Cameron defends. But for today Miliband can revel in the Mail’s disgrace.
THE GUARDIAN
Miliband means to lift politics and press out of the gutter, appealing to common decency – tough call.
by Polly Toynbee
Bully, coward, hypocrite, shameless, remorseless, ruthless, malignant — add your epithets for the Mail here. In London’s Guy’s hospital, at the private memorial event for Professor Harry Keen, distinguished diabetes consultant, a Mail on Sunday reporter took the hand of his close relative and offered her deepest condolences. Then she tried to pummel views out of guests about Ed Miliband’s father, hoping for some juicy follow-up to their “man who hated Britain” assault.
I knew Harry Keen, since he set up the NHS Support Federation in 1989 to oppose Margaret Thatcher’s purchaser-provider reforms. Shortly before he died we spoke at the same meeting, where he told a moving story.
As a young GP he visited a sick child whose mother tried to send him away, unable to afford the medicine. It was the very day the NHS was born and he described that mother’s amazed relief when he said he could treat all her family for free for ever. Keen fought passionately against the dismantling of the NHS and I imagine he might relish the row over the Mail’s despicable behaviour at his memorial. But his is not a story to warm the cockles of the Mail’s heart.
Outraged, Miliband wrote to the Mail’s owner, Lord Rothermere, and two reporters were suspended. It’s not uncommon in the more savage newsrooms for reporters sent on unspeakable missions to take the rap if it all blows up. Paul Dacre of the Mail never explains, never apologises – and is said to have tried to stop the Mail on Sunday’s editor backing down.
Never forget, Dacre is guardian of the nation’s journalistic ethics as chair of the editors’ code of practice committee, the self-regulation he is fighting to keep along with most of the press. Miliband supports a royal charter agreed by all three parties that would be entirely independent of both press and politicians.
So this is war, no holds barred and extraordinarily dangerous for Labour. The fight with the Mail is not of Miliband’s making, but he has nothing much to lose — and, just possibly, much to gain.
Once he dared to take on the frightening might of Rupert Murdoch by calling for a public inquiry into the hacking scandal, the die was cast. David Cameron couldn’t refuse and the Leveson process began — to the alarm of most of the press. Miliband went further, demanding new press ownership laws to stop Murdoch domination of some 40 percent of press readership plus Sky.
That fits the Miliband template for breaking up cartels and monopolies to make markets function better for the consumer. That’s not socialism, but heeding Adam Smith’s warnings of business conspiracy. There’s no retreat now, no role left but Daniel in the lions’ den.
How those lions roared at his conference speech, a reminder of how a few press barons dominate Britain’s daily discourse. The Mail splashed, “Back to the bad old days … Red Ed revives 70s socialism”. The Daily Express: “Return of Red Ed as Labour lurches Left”. The Sun went with “Red Ed power cut fear”; the Times, now equally on Murdoch message, “Blackout threat over Miliband’s fuel pledge”; while the Telegraph opted for “Miliband’s ‘Stalinist’ plan to seize land for homes and build on fields”.
Here’s the big question: can Labour ever win against the browbeating of Britain’s 80 percent right-wing press? Tony Blair, scarred by the monstering of Neil Kinnock, grovelled to the Sun before the election and crossed the world to bend to News Corp executives. That’s why Labour triangulated, ducked and dived to neutralise the worst.
It worked, more or less, at high cost. Even on departing, when Blair finally called the press “feral”, he only dared name the gentle Independent. Gordon Brown’s approach was achingly, tragically pathetic, the bullied boy licking the boots that kicked him, courting Dacre ceaselessly. Worst of all, he invited Dacre to the funeral of his daughter. Did that bind the old monster to Labour’s cause? Of course not.
Miliband seeks attention for his assaults on powerful vested interests — but will they trample him underfoot?
He thinks things have changed since 1997: people are angrier about the powers-that-be. Politicians and journalists are equally reviled, so standing outside the establishment is the place to be.
Miliband ends the conference season confident that he made the weather, his speech set the agenda, his intervention on Syria prevented US bombing.
His cost of living crisis is what Cameron forgot in his speech, now rushing out briefings to the Times with rail fare and bank fee promises. Miliband means to lift politics and press out of the gutter, appealing to common decency — tough call.
And yet — the Red Ed framing is dangerous. The stronger he gets, the more relentless will be the character assassination, smears and mockery. Will enough people rally to an anti-establishment cause and ignore these foghorn harassers? Not since 1945 has Labour beaten a formidable press red scare. He will need escape velocity to get ahead of the hounds at his heels, and that needs a noisy and imaginative campaign on the side of citizens, against the business baronies Cameron defends. But for today Miliband can revel in the Mail’s disgrace.
THE GUARDIAN
