Page 44 - Michael Crick News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Are mps talkative or do you have to persuade them to talk? on a day like today, they're a lot more talkative than they usually are. i think there is a sense that it doesn't really matter what they say because everything is... everyone's talking to everyone. but on a normal day, you might have to pull them aside, you might have to tap them on the shoulder. if you already know them, they mightjust walk over to you. but if it's someone you don't know, you might have to do a little work to get them to come to you. well, thanks to you as well forjoining us. that's eleanor from politicshome. so thos...

Political editor at sky news. and, jane, i wonder how you view, say, the few hours between 7.00, 9.00,10.00 in the morning today, where we had the broadcast rounds, we had resignations on twitter. it felt like those in the political sphere understood how to use the media to their ends. yeah. and i think what was clear, ros, as well today, and from last night as well, when both sunak and javid used twitter to release their resignation statements, that they also realise the power of social media and, obviously, the broadcast and the print media. i mean, it's been really interesting, particularly...

And he has to pay thel consequences of that. where i've had an issue over the past few months, - as a formerjournalist particularly, is that, i very often, particularly around partygate and the sue gray. report, one has felt that proper accountability - would actually lead to - senior people, and indeed the prime minister, really, - genuinely taking responsibility in a way that didn't happen over quite a long period. . and i think it's perhaps fair that some journalists, - looking back on that period, might feel that they could . have held the mirror up to the prime minister. a little bit more...

So i think the hope was... you know, ministers and mps were quite disappointed and annoyed that they'd been sent out to say there was no wrongdoing in number 10, there were no parties, there was none of that, and the press operation was changed, a new director of comms came in, and thenjust days after the confidence vote, you saw the new operation actually send people out on the morning rounds saying things that weren't true. and i think that's why the frustration's come so much. it's not actually over what pincher did. it's over how the reaction was the same. but here's the question. and, mic...

The actual story is that the prime minister said he knew nothing, and then a journalist found out that two years ago, he was the one who said, "pincher by name, pincher by nature." that's the important thing. that's the final straw, isn't it? and i think what seems to have happened — to me — is that over the past months or so, the press has probably been as a whole... i hate to say "the press", but manyjournalists have probably been too supine, whereas actually they are now doing theirjob at least, and you would hope they would do that of prime ministers and politicians of all stripes rath...