Channel 4’s Michael Crick tears into the media for letting Theresa May behave like a dictator


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Channel 4‘s Michael Crick has torn into the media for allowing Theresa May to run a campaign that would make Kim Jong-un blush. The political correspondent said he was shocked that the media is collaborating so much with May’s carefully stage-managed election campaign:

So far, May’s campaign has been a heavily controlled affair. One of the most striking examples was an event in Cornwall on 2 May. Local paper Cornwall Live reported:

Media were locked in a room and banned from filming.

Read on...

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And the stage management looks set to continue. Based on first-hand experience, Crick reported:

There is a pattern emerging. On 8 May, the sitting Prime Minister refused to take questions from anyone other than handpicked journalists in Harrow, London. And as The Guardian pointed out, this was “rather generous by the standard of these events”.

Fundamentally undemocratic

But it’s not only journalists that May is silencing. Another continuous theme of May’s campaign is that only Tory party activists are included. Across the country, from Harrow, to Bristol, to Cornwall, only nodding faithfuls seem to attend May’s events.

According to Crick, May’s prepared audiences have continued in York:

Sky News Political Correspondent Beth Rigby summarised the undemocratic campaign:

Ambushed

But in Bristol on 2 May, local people did find out about one of May’s closed-off events. And they gave us an indication of why May might be adverse to contact with ordinary folk:

The locals chanted “May out, Corbyn in” as the sitting Prime Minister was sped away in a vehicle.

The sitting Prime Minister is apparently incapable of negotiating with any of her own electorate in a free, democratic setting. Nor can she debate the opposition leader in a TV debate. And she even has to vet the largely conservative media before questioning is allowed. So people are rightly concerned about how she will negotiate a decent post-Brexit deal with the EU.

The ‘safe pair of hands’ image of May, painted by the political and media establishment, is a mirage. Too much time off-script and it would collapse. That’s why she won’t debate Corbyn. And that’s why May only invites Tory faithfuls and vetted journalists to speak with her.

Get Involved!

– Register to vote in the 8 June general election. If you don’t have a national insurance number, a 5 minute phone call on 0300 200 3500 will get it sent to you in ten days.

– Discuss the key policy issues with family members, colleagues and neighbours. And organise! Join (and participate in the activities of) a local group, and/or a political party.

– Also read more Canary articles on the 2017 general election.

Featured image via YouTube

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