Hell Hath No Fury Like A Journalist Scorned

The Mayor of London story trundles on today with Ken Livingstone refusing to apologise for his "Nazi jibe".

I have just watched the press conference given by Ken and thought he made some excellent points. I don't believe he should apologise. Ken is his own man and will fiercely defend his rights to criticise relentless newspaper journalists. Yet, it is remarkable, although not entirely surprising, to note the strength of the language used by journalists when they were questioning him. They all closed ranks to defend one of their own kind, and asked the most loaded questions possible to try to extract another slip up from Ken.

Needless to say, I have a feeling this story is yet another example of those that endlessly concern our media, which pursues it for its own sake, while calling it "in the public interest". There is really no such thing as a free media, as the media is controlled by the people from the top who impose an editorial line. Hardly a ground breaking revelation, but there are far more important things for Londoners to be considering at this time.

It's clear Ken doesn't like journalists. If he is chased to the ends of the earth by reporters sticking their tape recorders in his face then he is likely to abuse them. It's what makes him so popular - he is one of the few politicians remaining who speaks his mind. He has even resisted the demands for an apology when Tony Blair jumped on the bandwagon.

It's time to move on. No one has changed their mind through this issue. And frankly, it's becoming very boring.