Some years ago, when I was the media editor of the FT, I used to deal with one David Cameron, the public relations executive of Carlton, a large broadcasting company. Since then, Mr Cameron has become prime minister of the UK while I have stayed roughly where I was.
So it is with some disquiet that I face the prospect of my old sparring partner introducing a law to limit what I, and other members of the British press, are allowed to write. It was hard enough dealing with him on contentious stories when all he could do was complain.
Mr Cameron has just been handed a report by Lord Justice Leveson on the culture and misbehaviour of the UK press – notably Rupert Murdoch’s defunct News of the World, which hacked into the private phone calls of celebrities and less powerful victims. Lord Justice Leveson is expected to recommend some form of statutory intervention finally to tame the beast of Fleet Street, although few know exactly what.