Abstract
‘I think it was a morally bad decision, and foolish in the extreme…I would reverse the permaban. Obviously I don’t own Twitter yet, so this is not a thing that will definitely happen…Banning Trump from Twitter didn’t end Trump’s voice. It will amplify it among the right. This is why it’s morally wrong and flat-out stupid.’
– Elon Musk, would-be owner of Twitter, talking to the Financial Times
‘Much more ‘news’ is invented than people realise. It was clearly worse in summer 2019 than 2016. It got worse in 2020. And it’s always worse in a war. Many front page stories are pure inventions. Many senior western journalists now retweet army training scenes from years ago and literally video game footage as if it’s ‘heroic UKR defence’ – some of them do this while also pontificating on ‘disinformation’ and ‘what a heroic job the media is doing’.’
– Dominic Cummings, former adviser to the prime minister, on Substack
‘To develop creative skills in left-behind parts of the country. Channel 4’s sale won’t just benefit the broadcaster. It will deliver a creative dividend for all. That is a truly Conservative and Thatcherite vision for Channel 4. One where we protect the public service elements of broadcasting, ensure its sustainability and invest in creative skills, opening up the sector to a much broader section of society…That’s what I want to get on with – and the overblown reaction from the same people who snobbishly decried my appointment the moment I walked through my department’s doors won’t stop me.’
– Nadine Dorries, culture secretary, writing in the Mail on Sunday
‘Britain rightly prides itself on its free Press. That freedom will not last if journalists have to take instruction from officials of the House of Commons, however august they may be, on what they can report and not report.’
– David Dillon, editor of the Mail on Sunday, turning down a meeting with the Speaker of the House of Commons