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Michael Gove: Murdoch Should Be Applauded For The Sun On Sunday, Leveson Creating A "Chilling Atmosphere"

The Huffington Post UK  |  By Posted: 21/02/12 15:17  |  Updated: 21/02/12 16:04

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Education secretary Michael Gove has said that Rupert Murdoch "should be applauded" for setting up the Sun on Sunday, and warned that the debates surrounding the Leveson Inquiry were creating a "chilling atmosphere" which threatens the diversity and freedom of the British press.

In a speech to parliamentary journalists at Westminster, Gove said that inquiries could "create cures worse than the original disease", involving setting up of knee-jerk quangos and "law-making entities" which made matters worse. He questioned whether the Leveson inquiry was really necessary, saying that most of the behaviour by journalists which caused it to be set up could have been handled by existing laws.

The former journalist - who spent a decade working for the Murdoch-owned Times newspaper - said there was a danger of celebrities taking over the regulation of the press, and criticised some of the editorial agendas of some newspapers and politicians who had bemoaned the creation of the Sun on Sunday.

With heavy sarcasm Gove singled out the Labour MP Tom Watson, who has said that the establishment of the new Sunday newspaper was premature. "Tom Watson manages to pursue a cause without the slightest hint of self regard, no ego whatsoever," said Gove.

In a wide-ranging speech in Westminster, Gove also made a jab at former Energy Secretary Chris Huhne, joking that he'd heard that Alex Ferguson was thinking of replacing Wayne Rooney with his wife Colleen in the front three of the Manchester United team, "because it's the wife that takes the penalties."

He also made an impassioned defence of the union between Scotland and the rest of the UK, saying that arguments for greater English representation, including the West Lothian question, was "entirely the wrong attitude."

Scotland-born Gove also rejected suggestions that David Cameron's trip to Scotland last Friday would only help the nationalist cause. Gove claimed the PM "augments any argument he makes,' adding that the PM's speech in Edinburgh last week had been "thoughtful and gracious.'

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Education secretary Michael Gove has said that Rupert Murdoch "should be applauded" for setting up the Sun on Sunday, and warned that the debates surrounding the Leveson Inquiry were creating a "chill...
Education secretary Michael Gove has said that Rupert Murdoch "should be applauded" for setting up the Sun on Sunday, and warned that the debates surrounding the Leveson Inquiry were creating a "chill...
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joe90kerr
1 Fans
10:13 on 29/02/2012
Gove and Cameron will be kind to Murdoch and this is what the whole enquiry is about. Politicians in power cannot resist cosying up to Murdoch, have they learned nothing?
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o Owindowsill
27 Fans
 
08:22 on 22/02/2012
I dont need Gove to tell me this, he is a monkey with a silly voice and sinister agenda
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fco1922
196 Fans
07:55 on 22/02/2012
Amazing how people's dislike of Gore the man has enabled them to completely overlook one very important point he has made. I may not like the man but he is absolutely right when he speaks of the dangers posed to our fundamental liberties if we start tampering with free speech and a free press.

Canadians, Australians and Americans have taken to heart the very principles we British now so gladly surrender. They have Constitutions that guarantee free speech and a free press; prohibit double jeopardy; enshrine the right to silence; guarantee jury trials. These rights were once fundamental to our society. Guess what? They no longer exist in this country.
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figurewizard
22 Fans
03:03 on 22/02/2012
Gove's reference to Leveson on the 'chilling atmosphere' is worth noting. Many in the press and quite possibly police officers too are facing the prospect of going to jail over what they have done in the past. Nor are all of the journalists in this position connected with the Murdoch empire. Why we need a Leveson enquiry now if at all before these matters have been dealt with in their proper place, which is a court of law is questionable.

Enquiries like this are set up to arrive at conclusions which in the case of this one could lead to some form of regulation of the press. No matter how slight that may appear at first it would set a dangerous precedent that could lead to the Internet in the fullness of time. Blogs such as this one for example can be even more inconvenient to politicians than the newspapers.
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ScottishScript
"I am not a number, I am a person!"
733 Fans
03:54 on 22/02/2012
I don’t believe free speech should extend to a handful of wealthy individuals owning outlets so that they can enrich themselves and through sheer volume of output restrain the free speech of others.

It’s not unlike the present American political system where individuals are chosen not by the people, but a tiny minority of billionaires who use their money to put in place puppets to serve their own interests.

The Citizens United ruling was on the basis of corporations being people in the sense they should have unlimited financial input to the election cycle, but at what cost? What about the free speech of the vast majority who have no say in the candidates they’re left to choose between?

Free speech should protect the voice of the majority, not the wealthy minority to which Murdoch belongs. His publications have in my opinion corrupted not just our political process but our culture too.

I’ve watched the Leveson inquiry and I’m sick of hearing those in the media industry carp on about their free speech. Does anyone seriously believe that free speech extends to stories that might undermine those who pay their wages?

Murdoch’s Fox News network’s contribution to free speech is twenty four hours of far right propaganda deliberately crafted to brainwash the masses.

You can lie and defend it under the banner of free speech, but you should not be allowed to spread those lies on the airwaves - or in print - unchallenged.
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fco1922
196 Fans
07:48 on 22/02/2012
As your comment implies, we British have a very fleeting respect for such things as free speech. The principle that the government should not impede free speech or a free press transcends issues like press ownership and 'rich media moguls'. Many grave miscarriages of justice that affect us all would never have been exposed if not for the press. A free press is a FUNDAMENTAL right. US Constitutional framers, and most Americans, understand this. In the UK, we are very willing to sacrifice civil liberties for political reasons. Witness the abolition of the right to silence; attempts to end jury trials; prior restraint; diplock courts.

How can anyone who believes in fundamental rights ever tire of hearing their importance stressed? Britain gave many countries a deep respect for fundamental liberties. It is sad we hold them in contempt ourselves--and are proud to do so.
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Drg40
Representative Democracy is all we have.
65 Fans
09:45 on 22/02/2012
But you know why Gove seeks to downplay press corruption. It's because if we ask too many questions the stench leads straight back to No 10 and poor old dodgy Dave has enough problems without being shown to be in thrall to a very dubious foreigner.

Incidentally, anybody heard any news as to whether Mr Plod is to arrest Fox under the Official Secrets Act yet?
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vectradt1
69 Fans
23:04 on 21/02/2012
Gove praises Mudock...and denounces Scottish Independance........

Mudock says he's for Scottish Independance....and critises the British Military.......

Doesn't gove look very silly now?????
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Allyb999
50 Fans
12:27 on 22/02/2012
What do you mean now? He has looked silly for ages lol.
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pedroc
2 Fans
22:40 on 21/02/2012
Came across this from the 4th Oct 2011 Press Gazette, where Mr Gove says "Rupert Murdoch is a great man."

Gove was News Editor of the Times for 18 months and regularly met the chairman of News Corporation.

He was "surprised as anyone" about the allegations at the News of the World.

"I was I think as surprised as anyone by the revelations around phone-hacking. I was a news editor, not a particularly successful one, for 18 months and so I was there at the heart of the newsroom at the Times. But I was completely unaware of this practice, how it could be executed or what it amounted to until the stories that started being written in the course of the last year or two."

To followers of the Leveson Inquiry this will sound familiar. Tom Watson had asked Rupert Murdoch about the "collective amnesia" of his editors at the Select Committee.

Perhaps he should be called to answer questions in Module 3!
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AlanDente
Noses: made to hold glasses
197 Fans
22:15 on 21/02/2012
'Gove, realising that the Academy / Faith Schools mess he has presided over has left him with little to no popularity in a country he at one time possibly cared about, throws his lot in with creepy, amoral big business interests in a pathetic, craven, and ultimately futile attempt to buy himself a future'

OK, it's not quite as snappy as News International headlines, but at least it's truthful...
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fco1922
196 Fans
07:50 on 22/02/2012
I'd say the mess in our schools long pre-dates Gore. I remain fascinated how so many people refuse to acknowledge that our existing state education system is failing. Our capacity to ignore reality is truly amazing.

Today, Gore is being attacked. A few years ago it was New Labour. We really don't like reform, do we? That is perhaps why our universities dominate world leagues!
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Schlafendwolf
4 Fans
21:48 on 21/02/2012
I don't care about personalities.
When the Education Secretary applauds the setting up of a tabloid newspaper from the same stable as the group which has actively promoted dumbed down, lecherous, extremely biased, celebrity fawning, misinforming drivel inaccurately described as a newspaper, then no more needs to be said really.
In my book the Education Secretary should be so deeply opposed to another tabloid (Mogadon for the masses) that desecrates our collective national intellect, that he would be trying to burn down the buildings that are going to print this title.
Education and News International should never be used in the same sentence.
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fco1922
196 Fans
07:52 on 22/02/2012
Nonsense. Gore's fundamental point was about dangers to a free press. As usual, the British are sleepwalking into giving up further fundamental rights (ones they insisted be enshrined in our country's constitutions!).

This same attitude enables previous governments to end the right to silence; abolish double jeopardy; introduce prior restraint; and very nearly abolish jury trials. These are the fundamental rights that make our society different.

Stop scoring political points and work to protect our fundamental rights.
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Allyb999
50 Fans
12:29 on 22/02/2012
Like free press who hacked mobile phones, email accounts and more.

I care about my fundamental right to privacy, which the free press dont care about.
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Schlafendwolf
4 Fans
20:55 on 22/02/2012
I am in no way suggesting that the free press should be restricted. The point I was making is that this particular variety of free press (ie tabloid journalism) is an anathema to educational standards.
Not only that, but the media group remains under investigation for past criminal behaviour.
So where does the education secretary applauding the venture fit in ?
Will he be making soap operas compulsory in the classroom next ?
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mmartini54
Roll on 2015!
346 Fans
20:56 on 21/02/2012
Gove is a vindictive pipsqueak of a man, hanging on to the coat tails of the bigger boys. He finally hits back at Tom Watson for the above insult, but in a typically supercilious, toffee nosed way.

Such a shame that Cameron the ToffMeister General decided to give him real power over at Education. They'll be a long time unravelling the disastrous effects of his divisive, chaotic policies.

As my mum always said, "Never trust a man who points with his knuckles". You watch his next speech, see if it ain't so.
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pedroc
2 Fans
20:02 on 21/02/2012
Only a former journalist, and one who has served for Murdoch, could come up with such biased language.

The Inquiry "could create cures worse than the original". Really!

"That most of the behaviour by journalists which caused it to be set up could have been handled by existing laws." They were not and that is one of the reasons for the Inquiry!

"There was a danger of celebrities taking over the regulation of the press." Maybe he should be more worried if it was the Dowlers, the McCanns, the Watsons, or Chris Jefferies and HJK!

The worry, for me, is that the Inquiry is only a recommendation to be put to Parliament, and people like Mr Grove can then water down.
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ScottishScript
"I am not a number, I am a person!"
733 Fans
19:23 on 21/02/2012
We in Scotland have had to endure posts from people suggesting because Scottish born politicians proliferate the British political scene that Scotland is therefore far from unrepresented.

Well Gove is yet another example of a Scottish born politician is could care less about Scotland but this guy takes it even further, apparently he couldn’t care less about the people of England either.

“...saying that arguments for greater English representation, including the West Lothian question, was "entirely the wrong attitude.”

If I were English and lived outside that South East bubble I’d be deeply insulted by this.

The Murdoch cabal of publications in this country has had a stranglehold on our democracy for way too long. Many have greeted the chance to put their practices under the spotlight; however there are others such as Gove who are more than happy to continue playing lackey to the devil.

His comments should act as a permanent black mark on his character for anyone unfortunate to hear his spin in the future.

People now know where this guy stands, and it’s NOT with the people.
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eric14
1213 Fans
 
18:28 on 21/02/2012
The ''chilling atmosphere'' was caused by the revelations that disgusted the country. But clearly they did not disgust Mr Gove who appears to be turning into a mad American right-wing Republican.
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dalejohno
29 Fans
17:47 on 21/02/2012
Education!!!!! Not something the Sun is big on.
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George McAulay
Delighted to meet you
985 Fans
17:36 on 21/02/2012
Murdoch has many, many minions to obfuscate the truth
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