Maria Miller’s adviser reminds us why politicians can’t be trusted with press regulation

An email from an Asian friend last night pointed me to a piece in the Telegraph  saying: ‘This is the kind of thing they do in Singapore! I’m amazed it’s happening in Britain.’ She was referring to Maria Miller, the Culture Secretary, whose adviser told the Daily Telegraph to be careful about exposing her expenses because the minister now has power over press regulation. The story is here: a classic example of the ‘chilling effect’.

As soon as you give these politicians a hint of power over the press, they will abuse it. As Maria Miller’s case has shown, they will abuse it even before they get power. They will abuse it even while they decide whether to give themselves power of statutory regulation. The reporter from the Daily Telegraph dealt with Joanna Hindley, special adviser to the Secretary of State, and was told:-

“Maria has obviously been having quite a lot of editors’ meetings around Leveson at the moment.