Baroness Buscombe talks up her lack of experience
From Hansard for 30 November:
I hardly represent someone who is the “sweetheart” of the press, having had no background in the industry whatever.
That would be Baroness Buscombe, Chair of the Press Complaints Commission. Ho hum.
The PCC argues that ensuring that the chair (and secretariat) have no background in the industry helps ensures its independence.
Why do you disagree?
Having an understanding of how the industry work makes for better regulation usually.
It’s similar with the Electoral Commission. It’s right that it’s not headed up by someone right out of frontline politics, but the previous very strict rules against having any commissioners or senior staff with party political experience for long periods of time meant they often made decisions that didn’t reflect the realities of what they are regulating.