The Guardian

By Owen Gibson

14 November 2006

Sir Christopher Meyer, the chairman of the Press Complaints Commission who sparked a political furore by lifting the lid on his time as ambassador to Washington, warned last night that freedom of the press was being gradually chipped away by the government. He said the breakdown in communication between the government and newspapers was unhealthy for democracy.

"I believe the boundaries of freedom of expression seem to be closing in a bit on newspapers and magazines in a way which may not be healthy," said Sir Christopher, who has been head of the self-regulatory body for almost four years and survived repeated calls for his resignation last November.

"I'm not a conspiracy theorist, I don't believe in government plotting to curb freedom of expression," he said. "But when you read that after two years, there are proposals to make it more difficult to obtain information under the Freedom of Information Act, you have to worry."

A combination of changes to the law and the way channels of communication between the government and journalists had changed under New Labour had led to it becoming harder for the press to report on those in power, he said.

The remarks, during a lecture on the future of the media organised by the media policy group Polis, came a year on from the row over the publication of Sir Christopher's book DC Confidential, which prompted John Prescott, the deputy prime minister, to denounce him as a "red-socked fop".

Sir Christopher cited recent attempts by Lord Falconer, the constitutional affairs secretary, to limit the scope of the Freedom of Information Act and inconsistent application of the Data Protection Act, with some local authorities using it as a means to avoid questioning from the press, as examples. He said government had become less open since his days as press secretary to then prime minister John Major in the mid-1990s. When he returned from his spell as ambassador to Washington he found the system of daily, unattributable briefings he oversaw had "been destroyed, it had all gone".

"In 2006 it is harder to find out what is going on in government than it was 10 years ago," said Sir Christopher.

The problem stemmed from politicians overestimating the influence of the press. "Politicians believe if they don't get a favourable write up, it is the end of the world," he said. Successive commentators have highlighted a breakdown in the relationship between the press, politicians and the public in recent years. Some blamed the spin machine of Alastair Campbell during the early years of the New Labour government, while others said that was merely a result of an increasingly cynical press.

But Sir Christopher said the relationship between government and the press should remain "adversarial" if it were to remain healthy. "It is one of the sinews of democracy," he said.

He also argued that in a world where newspapers are increasingly expanding into digital media the PCC should extend its remit to newspaper's websites.