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October 9, 2013updated 10 Oct 2013 7:55pm

Hear no evil see no evil? Ministers reveal the newspapers they subscribe to

By Axegrinder

In a week when the jackboot of Parliament was going to stomp on those residents of Fleet Street who have survived the digital revolution, Axegrinder thought he’d look at the reading habits of our new masters.

Over in the Home Office, where shoe-loving Theresa May rules the roost, she has a daily subscription to the Financial Times; The Guardian; The Independent; Daily Mail; Daily Express; Daily Mirror; The Sun; The Times and last and not least the Daily Telegraph.

Journalists at the Daily Star or the Morning Star must be devastated that their work is not being viewed by the Home Secretary.

News for the future of the press is not so good in Northern Ireland where the relevant minister Theresa Villiers doesn’t receive a single daily paper.  

Maybe this is the ultimate case of “see no evil, hear no evil”.

The department in charge of Wales is similarly bereft of newspapers, an answer to a Parliamentary question from Labour's Michael Dugher MP published in Hansard has revealed.

Nick Clegg’s office on the other hand has plenty of morning papers, only missing out on the Daily Star.

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Over in Environment, newspapers are purchased but their titles are not revealed. A rummage through the recycling bin might be necessary for full disclosure.

However, environment minister Owen Paterson is known to read the New Statesman, the Spectator and The Economist.

The Department of Health, unsurprisingly is happy to spend money, receiving a range of specialist publications as well as most daily newspapers.

Over in the Department of International Development, newspapers are again seen as an unnecessary expense, with no subscriptions revealed.

The Cabinet Office, Axegrinder is informed, receives most daily newspapers – apart from the Daily Star – as well as a host of magazines.

No Government department seems willing to admit to owning a copy of Private Eye.

 

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