THE Danish toy company Lego has withdrawn its promotional campaigns from Britain’s trash paper, The Daily Mail. People ride to the rescue of the judges … Global company cancels advertising with The Daily Mail after its attacks on the judiciary … Politicians too scared of the media to wade into furore on behalf of the judiciary … Corporates urged not to do business with “hate media”
THE Danish toy company Lego has withdrawn its promotional campaigns from Britain’s trash paper, The Daily Mail.
Lego had run several free give-aways in the paper but, as a result of a public outcry over the paper’s hate-based agenda on immigration, minorities and judges, it has announced an end to the merchandising agreement with The Daily Mail.
An organisation called Stop Funding Hate is behind a campaign to get advertisers to cease financing Fleet Street bigotry.
@StopFundingHate We have finished the agreement with The Daily Mail and are not planning any future promotional activity with the newspaper
— LEGO (@LEGO_Group) November 12, 2016
The trigger for Lego cutting the painter with The Daily Mail was the paper’s front page splash about the appeal court’s decision that the royal prerogative did not supplant parliamentary sovereignty in invoking Article 50 – the official process for leaving the EU.
The “Enemies of the People” headline caused a furore, particularly as Prime Minister Theresa May and the Lord Chancellor Liz Truss refused to criticise the attacks on the judiciary by The Telegraph and the Mail.
Truss, an accountant, seems to be Britain’s version of George Brandis. In trying to have two-bob each way she has failed to properly defend the independence of the judiciary.
In a letter to The Times she said that it was her duty as Lord Chancellor to defend the independence of the judges, adding:
“I think it unlikely the high court is imperilled by the opinions of any newspaper …
It is not the job of the government or lord chancellor to police headlines, and it would be a dark day for democracy if that changed.”
It doesn’t look as though she’d be a supporter of s.18C either.
A retired Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, said Truss should be sacked and that her failure to speak out, “signals to the judges that they have lost their constitutional protector”.
Truss is regarded in legal circles, and even within her own party, as an unremarkable Justice Secretary.
While she and the prime minister offered only the lamest support imaginable for the judges to make decisions without fear or favour, the public was much more robust.
It was the letters to Lego from customers outraged by The Daily Mail’s “Enemies of the People” assault on the Lord Chief Justice, the Master of the Rolls and Lord Justice Sales, that got the black-ball rolling.
It’s quite unusual for a beseiged judiciary, deserted by the pollies, to be defended by members of the public, against the media. The Danish toy brick maker’s withdrawal of business from Grub Street is inspirational. There should be more if it.