Abstract
In a rare interview, the former Prime Minister begins by making an off-hand disparaging remark about the inaccurate press reports of his purchase of his London apartment and goes on to talk about the nature of the press during his term of office and as it is today. "Although he insists that what he has to say is not prompted by the bruising coverage he has consistently received over the years, there is more than a trace of bitterness detectable in his remarks," records Langdon, and she continues: "'I don't think I handled the press very well," he says now - and he uses that precise phrase three times. "It's quite difficult to be clear why. I thought it was fairly improper to get too close to the press. I'm rather a puritan in this respect." Sir John goes on the call for a new voluntary code of conduct for the press - "I don't know that there are many people who think self-regulation is working as well as it could."
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