Downing Street ordered senior journalists from some of the UK’s major news organisations to leave before a briefing on Boris Johnson’s Brexit plans – prompting a walkout by colleagues from across the media.
One of those present described Downing Street’s actions as “sinister and sad”.
Selected journalists were invited to Number 10 for a briefing from officials but correspondents from organisations who were not on Downing Street’s hand-picked list also tried to get in.
READ MORE: UK and EU on collision course for post-Brexit trade tug-of-war
According to those present, when political correspondents arrived inside Number 10, they were asked their names and told to stand on opposite sides of the entrance hall – either side of a rug.
The Independent’s political editor Andy Woodcock said Number 10’s director of communications Lee Cain then invited those on one side to enter and told those on the other to leave.
When his actions were questioned he told reporters: “We are welcome to brief whoever we want whenever we want.”
The journalists excluded included outlets viewed as left-wing or critical of the Government but the briefing was due to involve senior civil servants – who are politically impartial.
In protest at the treatment of colleagues from rival organisations, all the journalists present chose to walk out rather than receive the briefing.
The Guardian’s deputy political editor Rowena Mason said that among those who refused the briefing and walked out were the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, ITV’s Robert Peston and journalists from the Daily Mail, Telegraph, the Sun, Financial Times and Guardian.
The Daily Mirror’s political editor Pippa Crerar said: “I felt deeply uncomfortable being left to stand on one side of the room while colleagues’ names were read out one-by-one and they joined the group who were deemed ‘acceptable’ by No 10. Sinister and sad.”
It is the latest sign of the strained relationship between Number 10 and political journalists.
The Prime Minister’s Brexit day “address to the nation” was filmed by Downing Street, rather than a crew from a TV network as would usually be the case – leading to criticism from broadcasters.
Lobby correspondents – the political journalists based in Westminster – have also seen their regular briefings moved from Parliament to 9 Downing Street, raising fears about the prospect of Number 10 banning reporters.
A Number 10 source said the Prime Minister’s Europe adviser David Frost was due to speak to “senior, specialist members of the lobby” – a so-called “inner lobby”.
The source added: “We reserve the right to brief journalists which we choose whenever we wish to, and that is not something abnormal.”
READ MORE: New poll on Scottish independence finds even split between Yes and No
The source said around eight or nine organisations from “across the political spectrum” were invited to the briefing, including the BBC, Sky, Guardian, ITV, The Sun, The Daily Mail and The Times.
“No one is banned – people are invited for an additional briefing, so that sort of language in itself is wrong.”
The source insisted that left-leaning publications had been invited in the past, and said that to suggest the exclusion of some publications was on political grounds was “clearly nonsense”.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel