Talking to Obama (with Clegg listening in, of course)
Well, it’s two of everything from now on…Clegancameron and on and on. Or something like that. You can read the coalition agreement on the Lib Dems website (they just love all this coalition stuff).
5.30pm Update: Jeremy Hunt has just been appointed to the culture department, and has seized back control of the Olympics (previouly under a separate ministry). His first word…the 2012 Olympics would be his Department’s “number one priority”. So much for the media biz.
Hunt tells Sky News that he “doesn’t think there will be any substantive differences” between the coalition parties on media policy. Really? Do they all love the BBC equally, all believe in internet disconnection, all love the Murdoch media? No doubt the Tories and the Lib Dems do.
Anyway, we know you love your media here, and well there is no culture or media section in the coalition (well, let’s face it why would there be) but there are a couple of agreed policy items worth noting in any event.
There’s a promise to…
# Review libel laws to protect freedom of speech
Which we all have to agree with… today there is a crazy system where journalists defending a story have to prove it all over again in court to a standard far beyond that would be required on any common sense basis.
Today there is a crazy system where Britain has become the libel capital of the world, where it is too easy for wealthy foreigners with little link to the UK to bring actions in our courts.
And today there is a crazy system where the legal costs (which can hit seven figures on both sides) are totally out of line with the reality of whatever hurt was inflicted.
and…
# Ending of storage of internet and email records without good reason.
This sounds great, but who knows what it will mean in practice. But what does that mean for the Digital Economy Act and in particular its plan to disconnect music and film pirates? Has Clegg given up on his pledge to halt disconnection? AT this point, we have no idea.
As for the rest of it, well on the media and culture front, time to make it up from here…. because we’ll be jumping through Olympic sized hoops until 2012.
