Why won't Angela Rayner speak to Scottish print journalists?

The Herald Scotland

4 days ago

The party promised access to senior UK Government ministers would never be restricted under their leadership.
There will be better relations with the Scottish press, we were enthusiastically told.
And yet, 10 months into the Labour administration and the examples of officials coming to Scotland and dodging journalists are mounting up.
This time, it is Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner.
She is not here on official government business, it is important to note.
Instead, she was supposed to participate in a walkabout with Davy Russell, the party's candidate in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election.
Scotland Office minister Kirsty McNeill also did not speak with press despite visiting Edinburgh University on Thursday afternoon.
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Three weeks ago, Chancellor Rachel Reeves was in East Lothian on official business and the invitation to print journalists, including The Herald, was pulled hours before the event.
Why? Officials said the Chancellor's schedule had been unexpectedly 'squeezed', meaning she had no time to take questions – other than five minutes from broadcasters.
On that visit, she had a dram of whisky as she toured the distillery, presenting ample time for a five minute print huddle.
This also is not the first time the Chancellor has ventured north of the border without taking questions from Scottish newspaper journalists.
Her sister Ellie Reeves - a Cabinet Office minister - also came to Glasgow a fortnight ago, without a word to the print media.
Before entering government, Labour was desperate to avoid a Rishi Sunak style disaster.
In April 2023, the then-Prime Minister was in Glasgow for the Scottish Conservative conference.
The story of the day was not what the former Tory leader said in his speech. It was instead the No 10 press team's short lived attempt to restrict access to Mr Sunak.
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Just seven journalists from selected outlets were invited to meet with the PM - a request resoundingly rejected by the Scottish Parliamentary Journalists' Association (SPJA), before the offer was extended to all journalists in the room.
Dismissing print journalists is not a new trend for UK Government officials.
It was also repeatedly done by No 10 while Boris Johnson was in office.
But it is frustrating given that we were promised it would be different under Labour. And it is time it stopped.
Labour has told The Herald the press event in Hamilton was restricted because of time and space constraints.
Are senior Labour officials - and the UK Government, by extension - afraid to speak to the Scottish media?
In the midst of a crucial by-election, when Labour's message is how powerful it is to have a local candidate - Davy Russell - I challenge them to prioritise the print journalists who are working as hard as broadcasters to cover the vote.
We are on the ground in Hamilton every day. It's time we were treated the same.