Media and Lobby Briefings

Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury Excerpts

Tuesday 4th February 2020 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Hailsham (Con)]

My Lords—

[Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury (LD)]

My Lords, Downing Street’s director of communications, Lee Cain, said:

“We are welcome to brief whoever we want whenever we want”.


But does the noble Earl not agree that this democratically elected Government are not welcome to ban whatever news outlet or journalist they want whenever they want? What were the criteria for this smaller meeting and where was the transparency? When does a smaller meeting shrink so much that it becomes Dominic Cummings or some other special adviser on his or her own?

[Earl Howe]

As I said, my Lords, this was a technical and specialist briefing for selected journalists. There is an opportunity, twice a day, for anyone with a Press Gallery pass to attend lobby briefings and no journalists are barred. There was a lobby briefing yesterday afternoon when journalists had yet another opportunity to ask questions on the UK-EU relationship, which the Prime Minister had been addressing earlier in the day, or indeed to ask questions on any other topic. I am afraid that I cannot identify with the slant that the noble Baroness has put on this matter.