Duncan Smith slams Hain’s new deal
Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith has attacked Leader of the House of Commons Peter Hain over his plea for a “new deal” with the media to end the culture of spin.
Mr Duncan Smith said it was sheer cheek for Mr Hain to blame everybody else, including the media, for a process which signified New Labour politics through and through.
New Labour culture was about “spin and deceit,” he told Sky News’ “Sunday with Adam Boulton.”
“For Peter Hain to come up and blame everybody else I think is wrong.
“They are now suffering as a result because nobody believes them anymore. They assume automatically that they are deceiving and spinning and not telling the truth.
“People want honest communication. Let people make their own judgement and let them see what is being presented in its entirety and honesty.
“My problem with the current Government is that whether it is ‘Mittalgate’ or the Bernie Ecclestone saga over tobacco advertising, right the way down to the present saga with Dr. Kelly, the impression that the Government leaves is one of a government that twists the facts in such a way that it does not care what happens as a result.”
Mr Duncan Smith said the tragic affair of the Dr Kelly “saga” reflected the poverty of British politics under New Labour, where the “spin machine” was “out of control.”
Mr Hain said journalists ought to be avoid being sucked into a “Westminster bubble” where debate was determined by spin and “on-message government boredom”.
