The curious saga of a minister’s decision to publicly condemn a journalist for seemingly doing nothing more than asking some questions is dragging on, with Downing Street saying today it is keen to “draw a line” under the events – language which often indicates officials’ desire to close down an awkward matter.
This all began on Friday when Kemi Badenoch responded to questions by HuffPost journalist Nadine White about why the equalities minister had not taken part in a cross-party video promoting Covid vaccine uptake among black, Asian and minority ethnic communities with a furious Twitter thread calling the questions “creepy and bizarre” and accusing her of “making up claims”.
This has baffled HuffPost, given the questions appeared routine and the website didn’t publish a story as they had not received an answer from Badenoch. HuffPost says the tweets sparked abuse against White, and Badenoch’s actions have been condemned by the National Union of Journalists, and reported to a Council of Europe forum on media freedom.
When this was first raised with Downing Street on Monday in the daily press briefing, Boris Johnson’s press secretary, Allegra Stratton, defended Badenoch, saying the minister “had been civil” to White, and had reasons for her words.
Stratton referred the matter to the Cabinet Office, in which the equalities office is based, but it has declined to say why Badenoch had sent the tweets.
Asked today if she had anything more to say, Stratton did not.
I don’t have any more to add to what I said yesterday. No 10 doesn’t have anything more to add to what it said yesterday. I hoped that what I said yesterday, and the conversation we had, would draw a line under it.
While saying that the government “respects and encourages journalists to ask challenging, difficult questions”, Stratton pushed aside further questions on the tweets, and whether Badenoch should delete them.
“I think that this issue is best moved on from,” she said, adding: “I’m not in the business of telling ministers to delete tweets.”
All this can seem a bit arcane and Westminster-insider, but it is interesting in that it illustrates Downing Street’s decision to sometimes stand firm over issues despite near-unanimous criticism – the most obvious example being Dominic Cummings’ lockdown trips. Cummings might be gone, but his mantra of no compromise with the media still lives on, it would seem.
