Scottish Conservative conference: Rishi Sunak must not stoop to Boris Johnson-style political tactics – Scotsman comment

In 2014, journalists from three newspapers, the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and Daily Express, were prevented from attending Alex Salmond’s first press conference since defeat in the independence referendum, when he announced his resignation.

Then in 2020, Boris Johnson’s government decided to bar several news organisations’ journalists from a briefing about its Brexit strategy given by civil servants.

So, perhaps the best thing that can be said about the Conservatives’ shambolic attempt to block several newspapers, including The Scotsman, from a media question-and-answer session with Rishi Sunak at the Scots Tories’ party conference in Glasgow, is that he (or his staff, acting on his behalf) is not the only one to apparently attempt such tactics.

Only six journalists were invited to the briefing, from the Daily Telegraph, Scottish Daily Mail, Scottish Sun, Times, Scottish Daily Express, and Press and Journal. And while other journalists gatecrashed the session, only those papers were permitted to ask questions. That most have long traditions of supporting the Conservatives is impossible to ignore.

Asked about the attempt to handpick journalists, Sunak said vaguely that this was “absolutely not my understanding of what happened”, and then bizarrely sought to justify what did happen by talking about how he had previously given a “long interview” to BBC Scotland.

Like anyone, politicians in general are free to speak to whomever they please. However, when they assume public office they also take on wider responsibilities. As Prime Minister of the UK, Sunak has a duty to be fair to all members of the fourth estate, regardless of their political leanings. It is one thing to give an exclusive interview to a particular newspaper and quite another to exclude selected journalists covering an event like a party conference.

Yesterday’s events led to suspicions of an attempt at media manipulation, setting up an unethical quid pro quo, with favourable coverage resulting in privileged access to information. This may strike party spin doctors as a clever scheme, but it could backfire as it is an issue that can unite the press in condemnation.

The idea that it’s acceptable for elected leaders in a democracy to avoid scrutiny is one that must be resisted. Sunak has been a very different Prime Minister to Johnson. We hope this incident is a one-off and not a worrying backward step.