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| Tories under fire for banning local paper from filming Theresa May | Tories under fire for banning local paper from filming Theresa May |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The Conservative party has been accused of showing contempt for local media after Cornwall’s biggest news website was banned from filming Theresa May’s visit to a local factory. | The Conservative party has been accused of showing contempt for local media after Cornwall’s biggest news website was banned from filming Theresa May’s visit to a local factory. |
| The prime minister’s visit to a diving equipment factory in Helston, in the marginal seat of St Ives, was marred by a row about restricted media access when reporters from Cornwall Live were locked in a room to enforce the ban. | |
| Cornwall Live, the news website of a group of local newspapers that includes the Cornish Guardian, the Western Morning News and West Briton, was granted two questions with May but was prevented from filming the interview or any part of the visit. | |
| Well, I've had better visits. This was me, shut in a room, while Theresa May was in #Cornwall https://t.co/JbHpFqINzc pic.twitter.com/0XD4f0uqah | Well, I've had better visits. This was me, shut in a room, while Theresa May was in #Cornwall https://t.co/JbHpFqINzc pic.twitter.com/0XD4f0uqah |
| No 10 told Cornwall Live that its reporter had only been invited as “print media” and so was not permitted to film the event. | No 10 told Cornwall Live that its reporter had only been invited as “print media” and so was not permitted to film the event. |
| Jacqui Merrington, the digital editor of Cornwall Live, said the restriction showed an old-fashioned attitude to the media. “It feels like either contempt or a lack of understanding of what we do in the local press generally. You can’t expect any local media to be entirely print-focused now and not have any digital element,” she said. | |
| She said her media group had never experienced such an attempt to control journalists, adding: “This is certainly a different level in terms of restrictions. A number of us have had an experience with David Cameron and Tony Blair in the past – this was much more restricted than we have seen in the past. David Cameron did a walk through the town with us in Penzance about three years ago. We were allowed full access to him for a 45-minute period.” | |
| Merrington said her reporter asked May about the NHS and then asked for clarification about health funding. He was then told he had used his allotted two questions. | Merrington said her reporter asked May about the NHS and then asked for clarification about health funding. He was then told he had used his allotted two questions. |
| “We were being treated differently from the rest of the media. We weren’t allowed to film even the interview we had with her,” she said, adding: “It just feels likes its all very tightly controlled.” | |
| Merrington said the episode raised wider issues about the Conservatives’ attitude to the media. “The fact that the prime minister is making a visit to constituency on the campaign trail and then being extremely controlling and restrictive when it comes to access is something that members of the public should be aware of.” | Merrington said the episode raised wider issues about the Conservatives’ attitude to the media. “The fact that the prime minister is making a visit to constituency on the campaign trail and then being extremely controlling and restrictive when it comes to access is something that members of the public should be aware of.” |
| The Conservatives have yet to respond to Cornwall Live’s complaints. | The Conservatives have yet to respond to Cornwall Live’s complaints. |
| May has come in for criticism during the campaign for doing a series of events with local activists rather than the general public, with Labour accusing her of hiding by refusing to do television debates. | |
| During the visit, May was due to attack the Liberal Democrats for trying to reopen last year’s EU referendum battles in the party’s former stronghold in south-west England. | |
| The prime minister’s visit to the area comes amid concerns among some Tory MPs elected in 2015 that their seats could be at risk of returning to their former Lib Dem incumbents in remain-voting areas. Most of the south-west voted for Brexit but more urban areas, such as Bath and Cheltenham, wanted to stay in the EU. | |
| Writing in the Western Morning News, May sought to associate a vote for the Liberal Democrats with a vote for the Labour party, even though Tim Farron and Jeremy Corbyn have ruled out any pacts or coalition. | Writing in the Western Morning News, May sought to associate a vote for the Liberal Democrats with a vote for the Labour party, even though Tim Farron and Jeremy Corbyn have ruled out any pacts or coalition. |
| “I am determined not to allow parties like the Liberal Democrats to prosper because it is in their interests to prop up a Corbyn coalition of chaos so that the Brexit process stalls and they can reopen the battles of the past,” she said. | “I am determined not to allow parties like the Liberal Democrats to prosper because it is in their interests to prop up a Corbyn coalition of chaos so that the Brexit process stalls and they can reopen the battles of the past,” she said. |
| “Wherever it says Labour or Liberal Democrat on the ballot, it’s a weak, nonsensical Jeremy Corbyn that gets the vote.” | “Wherever it says Labour or Liberal Democrat on the ballot, it’s a weak, nonsensical Jeremy Corbyn that gets the vote.” |
| At the last election, Cameron concentrated much of his campaigning in the south-west in an effort coordinated by his election strategist, Lynton Crosby, to target Lib Dem seats. | |
| In the newspaper article, May urged former Lib Dem voters to stick with the Conservatives. “At the last election, voters here in the south-west were the difference between a strong, majority government and a weak, unstable coalition of Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP,” she said. | In the newspaper article, May urged former Lib Dem voters to stick with the Conservatives. “At the last election, voters here in the south-west were the difference between a strong, majority government and a weak, unstable coalition of Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP,” she said. |
| “The opposition parties are lining up to prop up Jeremy Corbyn and disrupt our Brexit negotiations – a recipe for years of drift and division at this crucial time.” | “The opposition parties are lining up to prop up Jeremy Corbyn and disrupt our Brexit negotiations – a recipe for years of drift and division at this crucial time.” |
| She also claimed that returning her as prime minister would strengthen her negotiating position with the EU, amid reports from Brussels about serious tensions over Brexit with Jean-Claude Juncker, the European commission president. | |
| “As we have seen in recent days, it will not be easy,” she wrote. “The negotiations ahead will be tough. Across the table from us sit 27 European member states who are united in their determination to do a deal that works for them. We need that same unity of purpose here at home to ensure we can get a deal that works in Britain’s national interest too.” | “As we have seen in recent days, it will not be easy,” she wrote. “The negotiations ahead will be tough. Across the table from us sit 27 European member states who are united in their determination to do a deal that works for them. We need that same unity of purpose here at home to ensure we can get a deal that works in Britain’s national interest too.” |
| The Liberal Democrats were wiped out in the south-west in 2015, with the Conservatives holding 51 seats in the region and Labour just four in Exeter and Bristol. | The Liberal Democrats were wiped out in the south-west in 2015, with the Conservatives holding 51 seats in the region and Labour just four in Exeter and Bristol. |
| However, there is a string of south-west Conservative MPs awaiting the result of a Crown Prosecution Service decision this month on whether to prosecute them for alleged overspending at the 2015 election, which could be an explosive twist in the election campaign. | However, there is a string of south-west Conservative MPs awaiting the result of a Crown Prosecution Service decision this month on whether to prosecute them for alleged overspending at the 2015 election, which could be an explosive twist in the election campaign. |