THE Conservative Party co-chair has denied that the application for the chair of Ofcom is rigged in favour of a former Daily Mail editor.
Oliver Dowden was pressed on whether the UK Government fixed the process for the role in favour of Paul Dacre.
Boris Johnson is reportedly keen for the former editor to get the job, but the interview board rejected Dacre.
However, in a surprise move, then culture secretary Dowden re-wrote the job requirements, allowing Dacre to re-apply.
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Dowden sought to defend the Government, claiming that re-writing the job application is proof the process is proper.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Well ... you’re actually proving the point that it is a proper, independent process, because had it not been a proper, independent process, if it was the case that Paul Dacre was our preferred candidate, he would currently be chair of Ofcom.”
Dowden was then told by interviewer Nick Robinson that the Government was changing the rules for its own convenience.
Dowden responded: “There were various issues with that process which led me to re-running, not least we had a very, very small field of people that were were found eligible, a small number of people that applied for it.
"So I thought it was appropriate to run the process again.
“But if this had been this corrupt process, you would be looking at this individual, that you allege was preferred by the government currently in that role.
“The fact that we have an independent process, the fact that ministers - in this case and indeed in all public appointments - appoint people independently to assess the validity of applicants, and then from those who are deemed appointable can choose who is appointed, is in practice an open process.”
Scottish Greens media spokesperson Ross Greer responded to Dowden's claims.
He said: “This government has been bought and sold by private financiers, caught by the National Audit Office, and is in the process of trying to rewrite the rules so scrutiny is avoided.
"What’s more, its laughable for the Tory party chair to herald the UK's ‘free press’ when their government are installing Conservative donors and supporters at the top level of the BBC, and selling off Channel 4.
"I'm sure it’s no confidence that C4 News have provided some of the most effective scrutiny of Tory corruption and incompetence in recent years.
"The United Kingdom is corrupt because of the actions of the government in which Oliver Dowden serves, it’s that simple.”
Dowden also defended the Government amid mounting accusations of corruption.
He told Robinson that Britain is an “exceptionally long way” from being a “corrupt country”.
It comes as the chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, Lord Evans of Weardale, has said there is a danger the UK could slip into becoming a corrupt country.
Dowden said: “I think we are an exceptionally long way from that. Of course we have to learn lessons and of course we have to uphold the high standards in public life.
“But the fact that you are subjecting me at a little after 8 o’clock in the morning to a forensic going over in terms of what the Government has done – in a corrupt country you don’t find this kind of level of free press scrutiny and accountability.
“We introduced as a Government the register of lobbyists in 2014. We are constantly improving standards.”
He added that Johnson accepted that mistakes were made in the Government’s response to the Commons Standards Committee report into former cabinet minister Owen Paterson.
“The Prime Minister has accepted – and we accept – that there were mistakes made during that period,” Dowden told BBC Breakfast.
“If you listen to what the Prime Minister said, he said that we’ve made mistakes and we regret that. We’ve accepted that, we’re moving on.”
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Dowden said that if MPs such as former attorney general Sir Geoffrey Cox were alleged to have broken Commons rules banning them from using their parliamentary offices for outside business that was a matter for the Standards Commissioner.
“Our parliamentary offices are there to enable us to carry out our work as a Member of Parliament,” he said.
“The Prime Minister has been very clear that Members of Parliament should be getting on with their day job.
“If there are allegations, indeed in relation to Geoffrey Cox, that those rules haven’t been abided by then that is a matter for the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and there’s an appropriate mechanism for those investigations.”
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