Crude attempt at censoring critical media

CULTURE Minister Nadine Dorries is using her position to push crude attempts at media censorship to try and stem the widespread criticism of the Government’s deep-seated sleaze.

Her attacks on the “left wing media”, seeking to muzzle criticism, ignores the fact that after the scathing attack on sleaze and the Owen Paterson fiasco by the Daily Mail, it was its editor, Geordie Grieg, who was sidelined from that job, presumably after pressure from Boris Johnson.

So the independence of all media is under threat. Threatening phone calls to editors and media owners appears to be the thin-skinned Boris Johnson’s standard practice.

So this government objects to being criticised at all, not just by the left wing media. So much for freedom of speech.

Ms Dorries regrettably does seem to have a real chip on her shoulder about the media. Some reviewers have been dismissive of her “clogs and shawl” genre novels, but unfortunately for her it was not just the left wing media who were the most dismissive.

Her use of social media to attack detractors led one Daily Telegraph writer to remark, “it makes it hard for us to respect parliamentarians in general. They should be like us, of course, but at our best. She comes out of this looking very thin-skinned and at best eccentric”.

She had previously used social media to compare respected radio journalist James O’brien to a hate preacher and called for him to be fired.

Ms Dorries’ attacks on social media abuse are undermined by her own record online. As one political observer remarked, “People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. Unfortunately for … Nadine Dorries, she seems to be trapped in a conservatory with a trebuchet”.

Boris Johnson’s judgment in appointing her as Culture Secretary appears very questionable yet again. Andrew Milroy.