Tigers, Poodles and Chihuahuas
Labour leader - Ed Miliband - called the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) a 'toothless poodle' yesterday - as the fall out from the News of the World phone hacking scandal continues to dominate the headlines.
Now as insults go this seems pretty ineffectual to me - because who would regard a 'poodle' as a watchdog in the first place - you might as well get yourself a Chihuahua .
Maybe it's because the Labour leader has been reading the Action 4 Equality Scotland blog site - where I called the PCC a 'toothless tiger' days ago - in connection with the phone hacking affair.
Maybe Ed just doesn't want to be seen using my best lines.
But if so, he shouldn't worry - because I'm not precious about these things - and it's not as if I've got the copyright on 'toothless tiger' - these words belong to the many not the few.
Ed Miliband has also followed my call to scrap the Press Complaints Commission - as has the Prime Minister - David Cameron - so I must be on something of roll here.
Barones Buscombe is the current Chair of the PCC - which tells you something about the organisation - stuffed full, as it is, of newspaper editors - along with the occasional former MP and odd union person.
So roll on the scrapping of the PCC - everyone is now jumping on the bandwagon - saying that we need much more effective regulation of the press - which is good.
But no one has been doing much jumping about and down for the past ten years - it has to be said.
As ever it's on the back of some terrible scandal - that the authorities acquire 20/20 hindsight - and finally summon up the political will to act.
Now as insults go this seems pretty ineffectual to me - because who would regard a 'poodle' as a watchdog in the first place - you might as well get yourself a Chihuahua .
Maybe it's because the Labour leader has been reading the Action 4 Equality Scotland blog site - where I called the PCC a 'toothless tiger' days ago - in connection with the phone hacking affair.
Maybe Ed just doesn't want to be seen using my best lines.
But if so, he shouldn't worry - because I'm not precious about these things - and it's not as if I've got the copyright on 'toothless tiger' - these words belong to the many not the few.
Ed Miliband has also followed my call to scrap the Press Complaints Commission - as has the Prime Minister - David Cameron - so I must be on something of roll here.
Barones Buscombe is the current Chair of the PCC - which tells you something about the organisation - stuffed full, as it is, of newspaper editors - along with the occasional former MP and odd union person.
So roll on the scrapping of the PCC - everyone is now jumping on the bandwagon - saying that we need much more effective regulation of the press - which is good.
But no one has been doing much jumping about and down for the past ten years - it has to be said.
As ever it's on the back of some terrible scandal - that the authorities acquire 20/20 hindsight - and finally summon up the political will to act.
