Among a large part of the population, ‘Labour’ still means ‘authoritarian’. Over Leveson, it has once again revealed its authoritarian streak.
Padraig Reidy is senior writer at Index on Censorship
Among a large part of the population, ‘Labour’ still means ‘authoritarian’. CCTV, ID card schemes, all the way to the various legal battles over terror suspects and secrecy.
In 2010, in the run up to the general election, I attended a panel discussion hosted by Privacy International. Nick Clegg made much of the authoritarian streak in Labour policies, even offering a Littlejohnish “you-couldn’t-make-it-up!” as he told the assembled digital activists how Labour had even made up a law banning people from detonating atomic devices (for the record, this sounded like an eminently sensible move to me).
Labour were powerless to fight the ZaNu Liarbore narrative, and the election was duly lost.
Step forward to now, and we’re constantly being told that new Labour is nothing like New Labour. Mark Seddon wrote in the Guardian last week of how this was “not the party that went to war in Iraq.” Those bad old days of control freakery and conspiracy are over, replaced by a new spirit of discussion.
All very nice, but Labour’s behaviour over the recent Leveson negotiations has carried the exact same hallmark of scheming and authoritarianism that was supposed to have been left behind.
The attachment of Lord Puttnam’s Leveson amendments to the Defamation Bill was a disgrace. Let there be no equivocation about this.
Here was a bill which had been built by consensus, with popular support. A bill that could go a little way to making this country a little freer. It wasn’t perfect, but it was an improvement.
Lord Puttnam chose to sabotage it. On Twitter on Friday evening, Chris Bryant was telling people that the defamation bill would pass without amendment if Labour got what it wants on Leveson. It is a tawdry political move.
Meanwhile, Labour’s insistence on statutory underpinning for the post-Leveson press regulator revealed that the authoritarian streak is alive and well. Is there a problem? Only another law can sort it out. A new Quango for the people. The party knows best.
All this in spite of the fact that many journalists are already facing prosecution for hacking and other breaches. We have laws for this sort of thing, so what exactly is this new law for?
Labour could have been brave: they could have pointed out that the focus after Leveson is almost entirely on the press, while politicians get off free. They could have said that here we have an issue on a principle of free press, and discussion about principal is not helped by emotive campaigning.
They could at the very least have signalled some interest in free speech by allowing the Defamation bill it had committed to continue on its path unmolested.
The Labour party chose to do none of these things, and in doing so has once again allowed itself to be cast as an enemy of freedom.
152 Responses to “Leveson: Labour has allowed itself to be cast as the enemy of freedom”
twidili dee
Yes, that is the point : under present law arrests are being made. The “good of democracy” requires clean politics: perhaps you’ve noticed that politics is in fact completely corrupt. Even if the entire newspaper industry disappeared you wld still have corrupt politics: on that you may consult Bernie Ecclestone
Simon Gothard
If Murdoch was batting for your team there would not be a peep from Labour about this. Labour were against boundary changes and now have an electoral advantage over the Tories. The fact that Labour feel they need to control the political landscape and media to achieve their aims of party domination is a terrifying thought.
twidili dee
Yes, this wld have worked very well in solving the expenses scandal (still continuing..)
blingmun
“The press is out of control”
Good. That’s what it should be. Btw, you are the press. And so am I. That’s how I am able to broadcast written words for you to read on this page.
The dead tree press that you had in mind is shrinking in circulation every year and has been for decades. The Guardian has less readers than the Birmingham Evening Mail had 10 years ago – read into that what you will.
Passing through
And yet more nonsense. Where – please tell me, where – has anyone in Labour or otherwise been arguing for Government control of the press? I’ve seen this point made time and time again by those attacking the Leveson recommendations, and it’s an utter straw man.
And there’s nothing remotely sinister about people being arrested for law-breaking. No one should be above the law. Not politicians. Not journalists. No one.