Bring on the competition

Abstract

The problem isn't all rooted in principle, writes the former Guardian editor. It inevitably gets personal, too. When journalists fall to debating their own trade - and falling out over it - then the motives flow as mixed, and as humanly fallible, as the metaphors. The fact is, our non-system works. We have the PCC and a pooling of sovereignty that counts for much more than outsiders suppose, but we also have a right to our freedom - including, as Lord McGregor of the PCC used to say, the right to be wrong. So two cheers for John Lloyd, because his book and his arguments are part of the process. But I think I know, at heart, what works best for my trade. Yes, it's rough, ready and indeed often wrong. But it also bears a passing resemblance to necessary freedom.