Behind the ban on our industrial correspondent

now in the hands of the rule-book of the Press Lobby and Parliamentary Press Gallery-the group of accredited and carefully vetted correspondents who are graciously allowed to enter the hallowed sanctuaries of the Houses of Parliament and 'report the deliberations of their members.

This freedom', however, is granted only at a price. The price is adherence to the rule-book, which lays down very severe limitations on what can and cannot be published.

Elementary things like names, 'incidents' and conversations cannot be published without violating the 'code' — a code which, like so many other hypocritical institutions of British capitalism, has no official existence.

Source

As 'Guardian' editor Alastair Hetherington pointed out in his address at the University of Stirling on February 26:

'In theory there is no lobby system and, strange as it sounds, lobby correspondents are supposed to keep confidential the very existence of the lobby and its meetings. The lobby nevertheless meets regularly, like a kind of semisecret society.

It is briefed by the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, the Leader of the House, the Chief Whip and others—all of course on a nonattributable basis. It is the source of many important political stories.' Like the Labour and Industrial Correspondents' Group, which recently voted 19-4 to exclude from membership our correspondent David Maude, the lobby has as its main purpose to restrict and regulate the dissemination of government news and ensure that information gets into the 'right' hands and is kept out of the 'wrong' hands—i.e., to see to it that the working class is kept in ignorance about the behind-the-scenes manoeuvrings of the government and Opposition.

In carrying out this task, the parliamentary lobby has one great advantage over the Industrial Group: not only does it have no official existence, but it is backed up by the stringent rules of parliamentary privilege.

In theory, it is a breach of privilege to report even the debates of the House of Commons, let alone what takes place behind the scenes.

But the lobby's servilé dollaboration with the authorities, its character as a kind of political mafia, gives its effectively unlimited power over parliamentary reporting.

The rules reveal the lobby correspondents as mere cyphers of government policy, sycophants who wait at the cabinet table for pieces of information which must be uncritically shovelled into the columns of their newspapers.

Any • correspondent who did otherwise would be quietly but effectively hounded out by the group.

This is made clear to every new lobby correspondent before he is allowed to begin work. Each new recruit to the lobby is carefully screened by an official of the House called the Serjeant-at-Arms-a man selected for his absolute devotion to preservation of parliamentary procedure anc tor his impeccable ruling-class credentials.

The present incumbent is a man named Alexander Gordon Lennox, a rear-admiral, holder of the DSO and a Knight Commander of the Bath.

If the correspondent is allowed to join the lobby-and some, like 'Private Eye' reporter Auberon Waugh, are on the 'blacklist' even before they apply—he is shown the top-secret rules and told to abide by them 'or he will be blacklisted.

secrecy is nothing lobby.

Anthony Howard of 'New Statesman' wrote a few years ago:

'For men whose task is to find out things about other people, the lobby correspondents traditionally display a really remarkable wariness and resentment when anyone tries to investigate the nature of their own activities; not even the vestal virgins guarded the secrets of their craft more zealously' The sheer servility which emerges from these rules, the worshipping at the shrine of parliamentary mysticism, is not merely carried out by the It is no accident that the correspondents of the Communist Party's 'Morning Star' are among the most loyal upholders of the lobby rules.

The 'British Road to Socialism', the Party's Stalinist programme, elevates parliamentary cretinism to a principle.

Like all the other reformists, including the left' Labour MPs, the Stalinists collaborate in maintaining and building up the facade of 'parliamentary democracy' — acting in this respect as a vitally necessary supplement to the activities of the Tory press.

The lobby system is the highest pinnacle of Britain's kept press.

It is one thing when newspapers are censored against their Will, or when news is forcibly suppressed. But what can be said about a press that voluntarily censors itself, in which the journalists' group is the chief disciplinary body?

The rules-now in our hands - are coyly headed 'notes on the practice of lobby journalism' and bear the legend 'private and confidential.

respondent David Maude (right), who has been refused all [!] This has often [!] been done in the past, and it forms one of the foundations of the good and confidential relationship between the lobby and members of all panties.

'Remember always that you hold a responsible office [responsible to whom-to the "members of all parties", the Serjeant - at - Arms, or the readers?] and that Ministers, Members and officials have a right to rely on your tact and discretion.

'Keep in mind that: (1) while you have complete freedom to get your awn stories in your own way, and while there are no restrictions of any kind of personal initiative, you have a duty to the lobby as a whole; (2) you should do nothing to prejudice the communal life of the lobby, or the relations with the two Houses and the authorities; (3) this is in your interest and that of your office, as well as in the general interest of the lobby' Briefings When the lobby correspondent has digested the implied threat in the final paragraph of this section of the rules, he can proceed to read the section on 'collective lobbying', which deals with the topsecret 'briefings' addressed by Jut this month: Where is Britain Going y Leon Trotsky.

Available from:

New Park Publications, 186a Price: 7s. 6d.

leading government and opposition MPs.

The section heavily stresses the need for tight security in order to conceal the very existence of the lobby:

'Members of the lobby are under an obligation to keep secret the fact that such meetings are held, and to avoid revealing the source of their information' The main purpose of this rule, according to the book, is 'the safeguarding of informants':

'Do not talk about lobby meeting BEFORE or AFTER they held, especially in the presence of those not entitled to attend them. If outsiders appear to know something of the arrangements made by the lobby, do not confirm their conjectures, or assume that, as they appear to know so much, they may safely be told the rest.

'Steps have been taken to prevent leakages of information about lobby meetings through Departmental officials and others.

This section ends with what is surely the understatement of the century:

"The lobby's machinery cannot operate effectively unless the courtesy and co-operation shown by Ministers and officials are reciprocated.' general mine archicollan Even more this section:

'Do not "see" anything in the Members' lobby, or in any of the private rooms or corridors of the Palace of Westminster. You are a guest of parliament, and it has always been the rule that incidents, pleasant or otherwise, should be treated as private, if they happen in those parts of the building to which lobby correspondents have access because their names are on the lobby list. This rule is strictly enforced by the authorities.' Etiquette The 'blinded' correspondents should comport themselves properly too. They are solemnly enjoined:

'Do not run after a Minister or Private Member. . . . When a member of the lobby is in conversation with a Minister or Private Member another member of the lobby should not join in the conversation unless invited to do so. Nor should the lobby activities of any colleague ever be the subject of published comment... Do not use a notebook, or, as a rule, make notes when in private conversation in the members' lobby. NEVER, in ANY circumstances, make use of anything accidentally overheard in any part of the Palace of Westminster.

'Finally, if you are in doubt about ANY point of the lobby etiquette or practice, consult the Chairman or the honorary secretary of the lobby. They have special facilities for clearing up doubtful points with the authorities.'