Minister Leaps to Romney's Defence

MSN NEWS: A Tory Cabinet minister has hit out at the "appalling demonisation" of Mitt Romney in the UK media.

Iain Duncan Smith praised his record as a governor and businessman and complained that the Republican presidential candidate had been wrongly portrayed as "stupid".

He also pointed out that under Barack Obama the US deficit had "gone from something like 4-500 billion dollars to three or so trillion dollars", and suggested the superpower's economy was stagnating.

Although Mr Duncan Smith stressed he did not know Mr Romney personally, and was not necessarily a "fan", the remarks appeared to risk breaching the convention against ministers taking sides in foreign elections.

"The demonisation of Mitt Romney over here has been appalling really," the Work and Pensions Secretary told BBC Radio 5 Live's Pienaar's Politics. "He may have faults. All politicians have faults. But this is a guy who ran a state very well.

"He got their debts and deficit down. He's turned around businesses. Whatever else you may say about him, he is not stupid, and he is made out to be stupid over here." » | pa.press.net | Monday, November 05, 2012

Leveson Inquiry: David Cameron Condemned Over Media Regulation
THE INDEPENDENT: Senior media figures hit out at the Prime Minister today as they launched a robust defence of self-regulation.

Former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie launched a scathing criticism of David Cameron's "obsessive arse-kissing" of the Murdochs and slammed the "ludicrous" inquiry into media ethics and phone hacking.

His comments came after Associated Newspapers editor-in-chief Paul Dacre accused Mr Cameron of a "cynical act of political expediency" by declaring the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) was a "failed" body.

At the latest Leveson Inquiry seminar, editors united in their support of self-regulation.

Mr Mackenzie said: "The only reason we are all here is due to one man's action; Cameron's obsessive arse-kissing over the years of Rupert Murdoch."

Mr Mackenzie said Mr Cameron wanted Rupert Murdoch "onside at all costs".

He said "There was never a party, a breakfast, a lunch, a cuppa or a quiet word or drink that Cameron and Co would not turn up to in force if The Great Man or his handmaiden Rebekah Brooks was there.

"There was always a queue to kiss their rings. It was gut wrenching."

He said final proof the Prime Minister had "clearly gone quite potty" was his hiring of Andy Coulson as his director of communications, but the phone hacking scandal had prompted him to order: "Stop the arse kissing and start the arse kicking". » | PA | Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Janet Daley: British Media Fall Out of Love with Obama
Barack Obama addresses the US from the Oval Office. Photo: The Telegraph
THE TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – JANET DALEY: The BBC reports of Barack Obama’s speech last night are about as derisive as it would be possible to be about someone you were describing only a few months ago as the incarnation of Hope and Optimism. Yes indeed, the romance is over. The British media have decided that it was all a cruel deception: Obama is just one more ranting populist president who will do anything to divert attention from his own failure to get a grip. And this is not just about BP and the fate of all those pension funds. Read on and comment >>> Janet Daley | Wednesday, June 16, 2010

I hate to say this, but I will anyway: I told you so! It should have been clear from the very start that this president was different from many others. The whole thing was about one person: about him! Obama is a great president if you want a president who poses, flabs (talks), and indulges in self-aggrandisement. If what you want is a man of substance, then Obama is not the man for you! He is far too taken-in with himself, far too aware of his own importance.

A little humility would go a long way from this man; alas, humility is one human quality we are very unlikely to see from him. The way he speaks tells it all. Just listen to him with a critical ear. That will tell you everything you need to know about this president.

The media gave this man a free ride when he ran for office. He kept spouting the terms “hope and change”; but not one journalist had the sense to ask him what he meant by those terms. How stupid was that?

As for the British media falling "out of love with Obama", I'd say this: They should never have fallen in love with him in the first place! – © Mark

Express Editor: British Media ‘Shackled’ by Laws
DAILY EXPRESS: THE media is “shackled” to such an extent that the UK does not really have a free press, the editor of the Daily Express said yesterday.

Peter Hill told a committee of MPs examining standards in journalism that they should be looking for ways of removing constraints on the media, not imposing new ones.

Mr Hill also apologised again for printing inaccurate stories suggesting Kate and Gerry McCann were responsible for the death of their daughter Madeleine, but said they had come from what he believed were credible sources in the Portuguese police.

The idea that newspapers could print whatever they liked about ­people with impunity was mistaken, he said.

“We have got the laws of libel which are the most severe in the world,” he told the House of Commons select committee on culture, media and sport.

“We have got the law of confidence, which is now being used extensively by celebrities; we have got the law of privacy which is coming in; we have got European law; we are pretty much up to our ears in laws.”

Legal firms who went round offering so-called “no win no fee” deals – technically known as conditional fee arrangements (CFA) – on libel actions had created a “ridiculous” situation and people came from all over the world to sue in British courts.

The constitutional right to freedom of expression in the US ensured a genuinely free press across the ­Atlantic, he said.

“We do not have a free press in this country by any means – we have a very, very shackled press,” he said.

“You should be looking at means of removing those shackles, not imposing more.” A genuinely free press is essential to the proper functioning of a democratic society, he said. >>> By Damon Wake | Wednesday, April 29, 2009