A section of the British press is now engaged in its favourite pastime
- the hypocritical denunciation of the very sleaze they themselves buy.
That chequebook journalism acts as an incentive not only to embellish a
story, but even to invent it, has not escaped that attention – and the
concern – of the self regulatory British Press Complaint Commission.
In the Burrell case, a prosecution against the butler to the late
Princess of Wales, for theft, was withdrawn. His defence was that he had
taken her property only for safe keeping. That he had told the Queen this
was neither here nor there. As neither executrix nor beneficiary, she
could not authorise the safekeeping. The fact is the prosecution case was
weak, very weak. The police story that Burrell had sold or attempted to
sell some of the property was not supported by any evidence. It is likely
that when the prosecution heard that the Queen had confirmed the
conversation - something which would not be crucial to the case - they
decided to throw in the towel in a case they were likely to lose.
When Burrell sold his story to one tabloid, the others, whom he had
spurred, decided to get even. They were helped by a juicy story peddled by
an Australian agent. All ready for money of course.
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Now there is nothing new in this unedifying spectacle - except for one
thing. The "news" papers are trying to camouflage their trade in
sleaze by arguing that this is really about high constitutional principle,
and of course, the public's interest. It is neither.
It is only in the interest of those who profit from circulations
inflated by sleaze, and those who take the tabloids' largesse.
The Queen is of course not on trial - indeed she has behaved with
propriety as her British Prime Minister testifies. Now is there any issue
of her accountability - which is - as she has always affirmed to her
people and her maker.
British and Australians republicans still cannot overcome their great
obstacle - how to graft a republic on to the Westminster system and not
damage it. And if anyone doubts this, the tragedy of the Trinidad Republic
revealed on the ACM Website by
a senior judge, Justice Handley, will demonstrate that every dollar of tax
payers' funds spent by Paul Keating and Malcolm Turnbull's Republic
Advisory Committee was money down the drain. The model they proposed has
exactly the same fatal flaw exposed by the Trinidad experience!
A sleazy circulation war may well be a crisis for the British press,
but that does not endow it the gravitas of a constitutional crisis.
Any republican excited by this tawdry affair should go back to the
drawing board and leave the gutter to the British Press.
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