The editor of Mail on Sunday refused to meet with Commons chairman Sir Lindsay Hoyle over the newspaper’s controversial report on MP Angela Raynor.
Sir Lindsay told lawmakers on Monday that he had arranged a meeting with David Dillon after protests over anonymous allegations that the Labor deputy leader had crossed his legs during the prime minister’s questions to distract Boris Johnson.
But in his response to the chairman, published in the Daily Mail, Mr Dylan said he would not be present as journalists “should not accept instructions from House of Commons officials, no matter how August they are”.
In his letter, he wrote: “The Mail on Sunday condemns sexism and misogyny in all its forms. However, journalists should be free to report what MPs tell them about the talks taking place in the House of Commons, no matter how unpleasant some may find them. “
He said that while The Mail on Sunday has the greatest possible respect for both your office and parliament [which] together with the free press, they are at the heart of British democracy, “the call will be rejected.
Sir Lindsay said he wanted to use the meeting to say “we are all a little better”, asking reporters to take into account the feelings of MPs and their families when covering stories in parliament.
Some lawmakers have called for The Mail on Sunday’s political editor, Glenn Owen – who wrote the report on Ms Raynor – to remove his pass to municipalities.
Image: Angela Raynor is the deputy leader of the Labor Party
And in an apparent return to Mr Dylan’s comments on the “free press”, Sir Lindsay said he had only recently rejected calls for another journalist to remove the parliamentary pass.
“I am a staunch believer and defender of press freedom, so when an MP asked me to remove a sketch author’s pass last week for something he wrote, I said no,” he said.
“I firmly believe in the obligation of reporters to cover Parliament, but I would also ask – nothing more – that the feelings of all MPs and their families be taken into account and the impact on their safety when writing articles. I would just ask that we all be a little kinder.
“That’s exactly what I wanted to talk about at tomorrow’s meeting.”
After the article appeared in the Mail on Sunday last weekend, the prime minister tweeted that he respected Ms. Raynor and condemned “misogyny directed at her anonymously today.”
However, Commons leader Mark Spencer said that although the person had acted in an “inappropriate” manner, he did not believe he had broken any rules in the House.
Appearing on ITV’s Lorraine program on Tuesday, Ms Raynor said she had urged the newspaper not to publish the story, based on allegations by an unnamed Tory MP.
“When I heard that the story was coming out and we disproved it immediately … as if it was disgusting, it was completely untrue, please don’t play such a story,” she said.
All I worry about when I’m in the shipping box is doing a good job and being able to do justice to my constituents and the work I do, so I was just really shocked that someone had said that to a newspaper and a newspaper reported on it. “
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