Coffee House’s scoop about how The Independent reprinted in its pages a Foreign Office talking points on the EU Treaty with only the most minor of changes and without attribution is making waves. There is, as Neil O’Brien argued in his original post, something deeply disturbing about a newspaper reproducing the government line yet presenting it to readers as the newspaper’s own considered opinion.
The Independent has declared itself “completely unapologetic” about the incident and said that, “The Eurosceptics, who have monopolised this debate for so long, appear to be shooting the messenger because they don’t like the message.” But this isn’t about Europe—although, it does say a lot about the intellectual demoralization of the pro-European side that the best argument they can make for the treaty is to regurgitate some government talking points—it is about levelling with your readers. What would The Independent say if another newspaper had done the same on Iraq?
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