On his path from bar to bench, Sir Alan Moses, pictured, used to make rather good jokes. Now, heading deep into his second year as the chairman of the Independent Press Standards Organisation, he’s beginning to make them again. Moses was guest speaker last week at a notably well-attended London Press Club awards lunch and duly announced a new prize, for “regulator of the year”.
Two nominees: “Highly commended, Ipso … but the winner is Impress. For what regulator could hope to rise to the eminence of a regulator of the Ferret and the Bit of Stone, where few if any complain and where those worthy blogs do what you all ought to learn to do: behave yourselves. What fun it must be for a theoretical regulator.” A triumph of theory over practice deserving all our admiration …
Moses went on to take a few swipes at British press xenophobia, sailing insouciantly close to the wind with Paul Dacre and his Mail cohorts sitting only a few yards away. He must be feeling a little more confident as Hacked Off launches its anniversary demand for Leveson Mark II – perhaps because he and Ipso are more chuntered against than applauded along the wilder shores of Fleet Street these days. The Sun, in particular, seems notably fed up with Ipso’s complaints handling – and may well grow even grumpier in a week or three when the verdict on the Queen and that “bombshell” claim that she’s backing Brexit emerges. Hold the front page, perhaps?
