One of the decisions that Theresa May must make in the next few weeks will define her as a prime minister – and it is not about Brexit. The fateful choice before her is between, on the one hand, standing up to the corporate national newspapers and becoming a political leader in her own right, and on the other, accepting that, for as long as they allow her to remain in Downing Street, she must be their doormat.
The mechanics of the choice are these: May’s government has just conducted a ‘consultation’ on implementing Leveson and must now come to its own conclusions on whether press regulation changes and the planned second phase of the inquiry (into criminal activities) should go ahead.
