Tag Archives: paul dacre

Hell has no fury like an editor scorned

By Andy Boddington | Sat 20th November 2021 - 6:12 pm

Paul Dacre, a doyen of the right and former long term editor of the Daily Mail, is raging. In a letter published in The Times this morning, he tells the world that he wants to set the record straight following “increasingly hysterical speculation from the left-wing media” on whether he would be applying again to be chair of Ofcom. He tells us he will not be submitting a new application while lambasting civil servants for working from home and “exercising on their Peloton bikes and polishing their political correctness”.

This episode arises from an attempt by Boris Johnson to stich up the Ofcom appointment. When the original selection panel did not appoint Dacre, Boris Johnson called for the selection panel and criteria to be changed, echoes of how he later tried to change the rules over the suspension of Owen Paterson. This debacle has only pumped more oxygen on the flames of sleaze that are engulfing Boris Johnson’s government.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 1 Comment
Malcolm Coles

The Independent View: Why it’s time to replace the PCC

By Malcolm Coles | Thu 25th February 2010 - 1:50 pm

Surprise, surprise. The Press Complaints Commission rejected the complaints about Jan Moir’s nasty attack on Stephen Gately.

If there’s any good to come out of this affair, perhaps it’s that this case reinforces the case for wholesale reform of the PCC. Here’s why.

The PCC is not independent

The PCC claims to be independent. One of the advantages of self regulation ought to be that it keeps the press out of the hands of politicians while still holding newspapers to account.

The PCC fails on both counts.

The Chair of the 17-member Commission is Baroness Buscombe, a Conservative member of the House of Lords. Her party …

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Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Also tagged , , and | 3 Comments
Mark Pack

Lester: Paul Dacre and Graham Dudman have got it wrong

By Mark Pack | Tue 11th November 2008 - 8:15 am

Part of the recent Paul Dacre attack on Justice Eady (who ruled against the News of the World in the Max Mosley case) was that he was unaccountable for his actions and basically a one-man band introducing a privacy law on his own. He was supported in this attack by The Sun’s managaing editor, Graham Dudman, who said, “The issue here is that Justice Eady is unelected and unaccountable. Parliament has not made these decisions, one man has”.

But Liberal Democrat peer Lord Lester has hit back today, pointing out that when the law on which Eady’s rulings are based …

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 2 Comments
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