Interview: Trevor Kavanagh, The Sun (Evening Standard)
By David Rowan
HE IS reputedly Britain's most influential political journalist - the man with the hotline to Rupert Murdoch who is feared and revered at Westminster, especially when an election looms. As The Sun's political editor since 1983, Trevor Kavanagh has lately been credited with forcing a government slowdown over Europe and keeping immigration at the heart of political debate. He has also landed an award-winning string of scoops, from Lord Hutton's leaked final judgment to Tony Blair's election date.
A tall, distinguished 61-year-old, you would expect Kavanagh to be as sharp and aggressive as some of his feistier Sun commentaries. So it is something of a relief to find him in person courteous, thoughtful, even self-deprecating. "I'm absolutely baffled by this 'most powerful man in Britain' role," he reflects over breakfast in a Westminster restaurant. "It's not a skin I feel comfortable with."
His reputation as a power-broker grew, he explains, when Kenneth Clarke used a BBC interview to suggest mischievously that Kavanagh's loudly trumpeted hostility to Europe gave him Britain's casting vote. "I guess The Sun does have a powerful voice on Europe, as our 10 million readers, on the whole, are very sceptical. That's probably why Tony Blair conceded a referendum on the constitution. But those who suggest that this makes me one of the most powerful journalists are getting confused with the paper itself."
Still, Kavanagh's well-sourced exclusives can dominate the news agenda for days. His Hutton "world exclusive" last January provoked a furious response from No 10 and won him two "Scoop of the Year" awards. Naturally, he will not discuss his source. But he does play down his own role in breaking the story "All we were doing was breaking an embargo, although Lord Hutton was pretty cross," he says. "Interestingly there were two inquiries ordered, but neither bothered to ask me about it. I'd have said, 'I can't tell you' — but you think they'd have asked."
He claims to be "just a reporter". Few reporters, though, have such close access to their proprietor. Kavanagh came to Murdoch's attention when, early in his career, he moved to Australia and rose to be political correspondent on the Murdoch-owned Sydney Daily Mirror. Today they talk "intermittently". But having survived four Sun editors, he wields significant influence in the proprietor's view of British politics.
He would be "surprised", he says, if The Sun did not endorse Labour this spring. Does that mean Murdoch has had second thoughts about Michael Howard, whom he invited to address a News International summit in Mexico last March? "No, he's met and enjoyed the company of Michael Howard. But I think the Tories have yet to prove that they have something major to say."
But what would win the Tories Murdoch's support? "They've got to be bold, prepared to risk attack for saying things that Labour cannot steal. On crime, for instance, a lot of people still feel that victims are seen as less important than the criminals."
Illegal immigration is another key concern, and Labour, he believes, has been "soft". Some critics have accused him of stirring anti-immigrant fervour, but he has no time for liberal handwringing. "I don't think we've stirred it up enough," he says. "What we're vehemently opposed to, and the Government has sold the country short on, is the failure to deal with illegal immigration and bogus asylum seekers." Mightn't his robust comments promote racism? "If there's racism in the pub on a Saturday night, that's nothing to do with our position," he replies.
UNDER current editor, Rebekah Wade, and her predecessor, David Yelland, The Sun has been a cheerleader for New Labour. Kavanagh had early concerns about Blair: before 1997, he reportedly wrote an anti-Labour memo to News International executives. So does he feel the paper is now too Blairite? "We've been pro-Labour on a number of fronts, not least Iraq and terrorism," he says carefully, "but we've also been critical of some of the ways the Government spends taxpayers' money. That's the point about The Sun. It's not Tory or Labour. It's an independent newspaper."
Still, it has been rumoured within the paper in recent months that Kavanagh felt the line had become too unquestioning, and that Wade's close social links with Labour politicians may have led the paper to underplay Blair's embarrassment over Iraqi WMD.
More recently, his critical comments about David Blunkett's affair contrasted noticeably with The Sun's gentler editorial line. Was the paper too easy on Blunkett? "I don't know," he says. "I did some quite strong stuff, but I think we were understanding of the human factor. I don't want to be too condemnatory of Blunkett, he was one of the most dynamic Labour ministers, and he really seemed to be doing his best to tackle crime." Blunkett will be back, he predicts.
Does The Sun see Gordon Brown as a leader to back? "The Sun has always had a good relationship with Gordon Brown," he says cautiously. "The proprietor admires his intellect, dynamism, work ethic, his mission to get people into work." Yes, but would The Sun back Brown as leader? "I think we have to wait till we get to that point and then assess how he's handled things. I think that's possible, yeah. But I'm not in a position to speak for the proprietor."
He is particularly critical of Labour's media manipulation, and believes that the FT's John Lloyd is wrong to blame journalists for their cynicism. "It isn't the journalists muddying the waters, it's Labour's spin machine. This Government has developed a wall of cynicism between the media and Westminster and Whitehall, with all its attempts to confuse and confound the inquiring journalist."
The result has been to let this Government get away with scandals that would have broken a Tory one, he says. "I cannot imagine that a Conservative prime minister could possibly survive when, having announced he was going to step down in four years' time, he somehow managed to conjure up a mortgage on a £3.6 million house on the basis of future income. Or that Norma Major would escape criticism for carrying out lucrative speaking engagements abroad. They would be pilloried. But under Labour, almost anything goes."
So is he a Conservative? "No I'm not," he replies. "I've never been a member of a political party. I do have views coloured by my experience — when I returned from working in Australia in 1977, I worked as an industrial reporter for The Sun and covered lots of strikes which seemed to me to be industrial vandalism. There's no doubt that the Thatcher years made a difference."
He maintains a healthy separation between the pressures of Westminster and a suburban Surrey home life. He and his wife Jacqueline have never taken a holiday with a politician, or entertained one at home over dinner, he says. "I'd agree with Hugo Young that if you have friends in politics, you frequently end up losing them, as you sometimes have to write things they don't like." Was Kirsty Wark wrong to take a holiday with Jack McConnell? "I wouldn't like to comment on other people's relationships," he says.
Perhaps this unwillingness to make enemies beyond his political prey helps explain the respect that Kavanagh has earned among his peers. As for his supposed "influence", he does seem genuinely bewildered. "If I retire tomorrow, whoever succeeds me will get as many scoops as I've got," he says. "There's an awful lot of excellent journalists out there who are just as entitled to awards as I am. It's just that when The Sun does a story, we do it big."
(Evening Standard, January 12 2005)
HE IS reputedly Britain's most influential political journalist - the man with the hotline to Rupert Murdoch who is feared and revered at Westminster, especially when an election looms. As The Sun's political editor since 1983, Trevor Kavanagh has lately been credited with forcing a government slowdown over Europe and keeping immigration at the heart of political debate. He has also landed an award-winning string of scoops, from Lord Hutton's leaked final judgment to Tony Blair's election date.
A tall, distinguished 61-year-old, you would expect Kavanagh to be as sharp and aggressive as some of his feistier Sun commentaries. So it is something of a relief to find him in person courteous, thoughtful, even self-deprecating. "I'm absolutely baffled by this 'most powerful man in Britain' role," he reflects over breakfast in a Westminster restaurant. "It's not a skin I feel comfortable with."
His reputation as a power-broker grew, he explains, when Kenneth Clarke used a BBC interview to suggest mischievously that Kavanagh's loudly trumpeted hostility to Europe gave him Britain's casting vote. "I guess The Sun does have a powerful voice on Europe, as our 10 million readers, on the whole, are very sceptical. That's probably why Tony Blair conceded a referendum on the constitution. But those who suggest that this makes me one of the most powerful journalists are getting confused with the paper itself."
Still, Kavanagh's well-sourced exclusives can dominate the news agenda for days. His Hutton "world exclusive" last January provoked a furious response from No 10 and won him two "Scoop of the Year" awards. Naturally, he will not discuss his source. But he does play down his own role in breaking the story "All we were doing was breaking an embargo, although Lord Hutton was pretty cross," he says. "Interestingly there were two inquiries ordered, but neither bothered to ask me about it. I'd have said, 'I can't tell you' — but you think they'd have asked."
He claims to be "just a reporter". Few reporters, though, have such close access to their proprietor. Kavanagh came to Murdoch's attention when, early in his career, he moved to Australia and rose to be political correspondent on the Murdoch-owned Sydney Daily Mirror. Today they talk "intermittently". But having survived four Sun editors, he wields significant influence in the proprietor's view of British politics.
He would be "surprised", he says, if The Sun did not endorse Labour this spring. Does that mean Murdoch has had second thoughts about Michael Howard, whom he invited to address a News International summit in Mexico last March? "No, he's met and enjoyed the company of Michael Howard. But I think the Tories have yet to prove that they have something major to say."
But what would win the Tories Murdoch's support? "They've got to be bold, prepared to risk attack for saying things that Labour cannot steal. On crime, for instance, a lot of people still feel that victims are seen as less important than the criminals."
Illegal immigration is another key concern, and Labour, he believes, has been "soft". Some critics have accused him of stirring anti-immigrant fervour, but he has no time for liberal handwringing. "I don't think we've stirred it up enough," he says. "What we're vehemently opposed to, and the Government has sold the country short on, is the failure to deal with illegal immigration and bogus asylum seekers." Mightn't his robust comments promote racism? "If there's racism in the pub on a Saturday night, that's nothing to do with our position," he replies.
UNDER current editor, Rebekah Wade, and her predecessor, David Yelland, The Sun has been a cheerleader for New Labour. Kavanagh had early concerns about Blair: before 1997, he reportedly wrote an anti-Labour memo to News International executives. So does he feel the paper is now too Blairite? "We've been pro-Labour on a number of fronts, not least Iraq and terrorism," he says carefully, "but we've also been critical of some of the ways the Government spends taxpayers' money. That's the point about The Sun. It's not Tory or Labour. It's an independent newspaper."
Still, it has been rumoured within the paper in recent months that Kavanagh felt the line had become too unquestioning, and that Wade's close social links with Labour politicians may have led the paper to underplay Blair's embarrassment over Iraqi WMD.
More recently, his critical comments about David Blunkett's affair contrasted noticeably with The Sun's gentler editorial line. Was the paper too easy on Blunkett? "I don't know," he says. "I did some quite strong stuff, but I think we were understanding of the human factor. I don't want to be too condemnatory of Blunkett, he was one of the most dynamic Labour ministers, and he really seemed to be doing his best to tackle crime." Blunkett will be back, he predicts.
Does The Sun see Gordon Brown as a leader to back? "The Sun has always had a good relationship with Gordon Brown," he says cautiously. "The proprietor admires his intellect, dynamism, work ethic, his mission to get people into work." Yes, but would The Sun back Brown as leader? "I think we have to wait till we get to that point and then assess how he's handled things. I think that's possible, yeah. But I'm not in a position to speak for the proprietor."
He is particularly critical of Labour's media manipulation, and believes that the FT's John Lloyd is wrong to blame journalists for their cynicism. "It isn't the journalists muddying the waters, it's Labour's spin machine. This Government has developed a wall of cynicism between the media and Westminster and Whitehall, with all its attempts to confuse and confound the inquiring journalist."
The result has been to let this Government get away with scandals that would have broken a Tory one, he says. "I cannot imagine that a Conservative prime minister could possibly survive when, having announced he was going to step down in four years' time, he somehow managed to conjure up a mortgage on a £3.6 million house on the basis of future income. Or that Norma Major would escape criticism for carrying out lucrative speaking engagements abroad. They would be pilloried. But under Labour, almost anything goes."
So is he a Conservative? "No I'm not," he replies. "I've never been a member of a political party. I do have views coloured by my experience — when I returned from working in Australia in 1977, I worked as an industrial reporter for The Sun and covered lots of strikes which seemed to me to be industrial vandalism. There's no doubt that the Thatcher years made a difference."
He maintains a healthy separation between the pressures of Westminster and a suburban Surrey home life. He and his wife Jacqueline have never taken a holiday with a politician, or entertained one at home over dinner, he says. "I'd agree with Hugo Young that if you have friends in politics, you frequently end up losing them, as you sometimes have to write things they don't like." Was Kirsty Wark wrong to take a holiday with Jack McConnell? "I wouldn't like to comment on other people's relationships," he says.
Perhaps this unwillingness to make enemies beyond his political prey helps explain the respect that Kavanagh has earned among his peers. As for his supposed "influence", he does seem genuinely bewildered. "If I retire tomorrow, whoever succeeds me will get as many scoops as I've got," he says. "There's an awful lot of excellent journalists out there who are just as entitled to awards as I am. It's just that when The Sun does a story, we do it big."
(Evening Standard, January 12 2005)
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