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DWP Director of Communications criticises the Guardian
Interesting article by the Guardian about Richard Caseby, the Director of Communications at DWP since earlier this year, and Mr Caseby’s criticism of the Guardian in it’s reporting of welfare reforms.
Equally thin-skinned, IDS also takes a dim view of criticism of his policies and makes things personal. Caseby is always keen to stress he was appointed by a civil service board, not the boss, and certainly has the background and stamina to do what must be a tough job, as the Mirror’s Alastair Campbell and others have shown.
But it’s not smart to have a street brawler pursuing personal vendettas in a post as sensitive as Caseby’s at a time when the policies he is called upon to explain and defend are under such attack.
It’s not just the Guardian that is alarmed by the way the cuts are falling on society’s weakest, most of whom are not the scroungers of redtop legend.
It’s time for IDS to have a quiet word with his pit bull Richard Caseby
Have to say that I find this criticism of the accuracy of the Guardian’s reporting particularly rich coming from someone whose own department has routinely played fast and loose with it’s statistics and associated messaging....
.. former Managing Editor of The Sunday Times and The Sun ....
http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/news/story/dwp-announces-appointment-of-new-director-of-communications
The attack came in an article whose premiss was that The Guardian is not fit to join IPSO (Independent Press Standards Organisation) which is ironic really as the Guardian doesn’t even support IPSO
[ Edited: 20 May 2014 at 04:46 pm by nevip ]A Cabinet Office source added that Alex Aiken, the executive director for government communications, had not approved Caseby’s article. A source said: “It was not authorised by Alex Aiken. It was just a blog by Mr Caseby.”
But the source indicated that no action was likely to be taken against Caseby as he is a senior figure who should be free to decide how to respond to press reports about his department.
But Bernard Jenkin, the Tory chairman of the commons public administration committee which oversees the civil service, said: “There was a time when such passionate support for the government’s position from a professional civil servant would have raised many eyebrows. But there appears to be a new definition of impartiality which permits this kind of expression. The question is what do we mean by impartiality because there is rather less consensus about this than there was.“A Labour source said: “It is absolutely not appropriate for politicians or civil servants to make a judgment call on the new system of press self regulation.It is still in the process of being formed.”