Tory v Labour - Press Access Hypocrisy

There was considerable faux outrage laat week after Labour campaign group Momentum declined to accredit hacks from the Murdoch Sun to their The World Transformed event going on alongside the Party Conference in Liverpool. Those giving fealty to the Murdoch mafiosi included, to her shame, the joint political editor of the Guardian. Moreover, this was not the first time the media establishment had kicked off over access.

Last month, when Jeremy Corbyn gave the Alternative MacTaggart Lecture in Edinburgh, the faux outrage - backed up by sneering and outright lies - was on view once more when it was discovered that the organisers did not invite external broadcaster to the event, but made their own video feed available to anyone who wanted it.

The confected furore began after normally sensible Channel 4 News man Michael Crick got a little ahead of himself, seeing something underhand and sinister that was not there. This prompted sneering from the low moaning noise that is Desperate Dan Hodges, and a malicious pack of lies from the odious flannelled fool Master Harry Cole.

Then, yesterday, came the Oh What A Giveaway moment. After Theresa May caused her fellow EU heads of Government to finally run out of patience at the Salzburg summit on Thursday, she gave a speech from 10 Downing Street - scripted, no questions, and indeed no journalists present - projecting defiance. It was strictly for domestic consumption only. And its presentation shut out all except one of the pantheon of media outlets.

Which was the media provider given the privilege of broadcasting the Empress Treeza to the masses? Was it Channel 4 News, Crick’s berth? Perhaps the Mail on Sunday or its sister Daily Mail was allowed in, given Whinging Dan Hodges’ acquiescence? Or maybe it was someone linked to the Murdoch mafiosi, which would have placated Master Cole?

Sadly, it was none of the above. It was the BBC. No-one else was allowed in. So where was Crick’s outrage this time? After all, she wasn’t even taking questions, but effectively using the Beeb to broadcast a party political broadcast. “It’s worth stressing that what happened today was NOT a press conference. There were just two BBC (as ever) people there; no other journalists & certainly no questions” he observed. Without outrage.

Desperate Dan Hodges drooled “Setting aside the minor, we're-about-to-crash-out-without-a-deal-and-all-die stuff, I thought that was May's strongest moment since becoming PM. Certainly since the election”. He had no problems with the broadcasting arrangements, nor the lack of questions. And what of Master Cole?

“CONFIRMED: BBC have been summoned to Downing Street. PM will give a statement on government Brexit policy. No other journos invited. On telly at 1345”. So just the Beeb, no other invitations, no questions, but as it’s the Tories, no problem.

The media establishment wants us to consider them more reliable than all those ghastly New Left Media sites that they keep slagging off, but keep on being caught out exhibiting the most flagrant double standards. We should keep on trusting them.

Well, the more they pile on the hypocrisy, the less trust they’re going to get. Sad but true.

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