The Deputy Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Nick Clegg MP

¶2.1 Mr Clegg's evidence was of value not only from the perspective of his current senior position in the coalition Government, but also as leader of the UK's 'third party'. Over the period I considered in the previous Chapters of this Report, the Liberal Democrats and their predecessor

political organisations, being neither in Government nor in the position of Official Opposition party, could be expected to have had a very different experience of personal relationships at senior levels between the political leadership and senior figures in the press. Mr Clegg reminded the Inquiry that the Liberal Democrats had never been politically supported by any of the News International titles, and had enjoyed express endorsement, only in recent years and to a degree, from The Independent, the Guardian and the Observer. He also reminded the Inquiry of his highly personal experience of press coverage in the run-up to the 2010 general election.

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¶Chapter 7 | Further Political Perspectives on Relationships with the Press

¶2.2 Mr Clegg underlined that, in these historical circumstances, he regarded himself and his party

as removed from the sort of relationship others might have had, with News International in particular.1 He said this about relationships between politicians and the press more generally:2

"But it's really at the end of the day for politicians to stand up for themselves and say: look, we have a democratic mandate, we've gone out to get elected, we listen to our constituents in our surgeries every Thursday, Friday, Saturday. The editors, the proprietors don't do that. We get out and about in the country much more, by the way, than many of the journalists who constantly pronounce on the state of the country. I just think a bit of – an assertion of the legitimacy of politicians to make decisions in their own right, unfettered, unintimidated, unpressured, would probably go further than almost anything else in making sure the balance is correctly set."

¶2.3 Mr Clegg emphasised the sheer importance of interaction between press and politicians:3

"I can't stress enough… the idea that politicians and the press should operate in hermetically sealed silos separate from each other is completely unrealistic and it's totally right they should seek each other out. It's just the manner in which they do so and the spirit in which they approach each other."

¶2.4 He also underlined the value of the press acting as 'a very important corrective in the political system',4 putting that in context in this way:5

"I think the balance to strike, however, is to make sure that politicians are not too – how can I put it? Not too weak-kneed in face of pressure which they don't agree with or is unwarranted or is unjustified in a mature democracy. The pressure is one thing. Intimidation is another. And I think it's very important to point the finger not just at the press but the political class. The more the political class allow themselves over time to be intimidated or cajoled or pressured, of course the more it becomes a self- fulfilling prophecy."

¶2.5 Mr Clegg's advice to the Inquiry was to recommend a series of 'quite precise proposals' which

would not be the subject of 'endless political argy-bargy' and would stand a good chance of cross-party support.6 He underlined, in addition, that the future for press standards "has to be independent regulation, independent of government, Parliament, politicians and the media, with teeth";7 he saw independence from both press and politicians as important, in other words, for a proper and effective system of press standards which would command public confidence.

¶I

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¶PART I | The Press and Politicians