Corbyn accused of trying to muzzle press
Jeremy Corbyn has warned the media that “change is coming” if he becomes prime minister as he described disclosures about his meetings with a Communist spy as “lies and smears”. The Labour leader suggested that newspapers had investigated his links to former Czechoslovakian agent Jan Sarkocy because they were “worried” by the prospect of a Labour government. But Tory MPS accused him of wanting to “muzzle” the press.
JEREMY CORBYN has warned the media that “change is coming” if he becomes prime minister as he described disclosures about his meetings with a Communist spy as “lies and smears”.
The Labour leader suggested newspapers including The Daily Telegraph investigated links with Jan Sarkocy, a former Czech agent, because they were “worried” by the prospect of a Labour government. But Conservative MPS accused Mr Corbyn of wanting to “muzzle” the press, which had investigated as “a matter of public interest”.
Challenged by a journalist at an engineering manufacturers’ conference in London yesterday, he described Mr Sarkocy’s claims as “nonsense”.
However, he later attacked the press in a video posted on his official Twitter feed shortly after 6pm.
Robert Peston, ITV’S political editor, questioned why Mr Corbyn had avoided answering questions over the claims ever since they first emerged. “If he really wanted to challenge them, why isn’t he doing TV interviews on it, given our impartiality?”
In the video Mr Corbyn said newspapers like The Telegraph had “all gone a little bit James Bond”.
He said: “It’s easy to laugh, but something more serious is happening. Publishing these ridiculous smears that have been refuted by Czech officials shows just how worried the media bosses are by the prospect of a Labour government. They’re right to be. Labour will stand up to the powerful and corrupt – and take the side of the many, not the few.”
Mr Corbyn then insisted a free press was “essential for democracy” and that Labour did not want to “close it down”.
He added: “The General Election showed the media barons are losing their influence and social media means their bad old habits are becoming less and less relevant.
“But instead of learning these lessons they’re continuing to resort to lies and smears. Their readers – you, all of us – deserve so much better. Well, we’ve got news for them: change is coming.”
His comments sparked debate about what a Labour government could mean for the press. John Whittingdale, the Conservative former culture secretary, said: “Any government intervention into what the press can and cannot write is very dangerous and whatever you think of the story about Jeremy Corbyn’s past links with Czech diplomats, that is a matter of public interest. There are many ways he could rebut the accusations, there are the laws of libel.
“The answer if you do not like political stories is not to try to muzzle the press… down that road lies dictator- ship.” And Philip Davies, the Tory MP for Shipley, said: “You don’t need to restrict the freedom of the press when laws are already in place to stop people being libelled.
“This is what people can look forward to if we get a Marxist government. They take out any dissent.”
Mr Corbyn’s comments come after Theresa May, the Prime Minister, said he must be “open and transparent” about his links to former Soviet spies.
He is also under pressure to allow the release of a Stasi file which was reportedly opened when he visited East Germany in the Seventies.