APPENDIX 32
Memorandum submitted by Andrew Neil, St
Andrew's University
1. I am the publisher of Scotsman Publications
and The Business but I am submitting this evidence to the
Select Committee inquiry into privacy and media intrusion in my
capacity as the former Lord Rector of the University of St Andrews.
2. I was Lord Rector of the University from
October, 1999—October 2002, at a very high-profile time
for St Andrews: it was announced during my tenure that Prince
William had won a place there and would be starting in the autumn
of 2001.
3. As Rector—a post to which I was
elected by the students themselves—I was responsible for
the welfare of all undergraduate and post-graduate students and
was obviously particularly concerned about the impact on some
of them of Prince William's arrival. This note is therefore designed
deliberately to deal with the privacy of the ordinary students
at the University—and not the specific issues that relate
to William himself.
4. My concerns—shared by others in
the University—was that William's presence here might lead
to stories about individuals who are NOT in the public eye but
about whom newspapers and magazines might write simply because
they were friends of William, or shared classes with him, or just
because they were at the same university as him. Such intrusion
would, in my view, be unacceptable.
5. Students, too, were very concerned. I
had a number of meetings with the Students Association and individual
students to discuss the matter as well as the University authorities.
6. In order to try to protect the privacy
of ordinary students, we enlisted the help and support of the
Press Complaints Commission (PCC). While they are obviously involved
in some of the more specific issues to do with Prince William,
my dealings with the PCC related primarily to the privacy of ordinary
students. My main aim was to make sure that whatever privacy provisions
would protect William were also available to all his fellow students.
7. At a number of meetings I called in London
and in Scotland, we worked out together a programme of activity
to ensure that all students would be aware of the terms of the
editors' Code, their rights under it and how to complain should
they need to do so. The Students Association also worked in co-operation
with the PCC in putting together literature for new undergraduates
in particular, and publicity in the student newspaper.
8. Importantly, I also organised for the
Director of the PCC to come to St Andrews to talk to students
about the Code and the Commission in late September 2001, just
before William arrived. St Andrews is a small University but over
400 students turned up—a sign both of their anxiety and
their eagerness to know more about their rights. A broad range
of topics was covered, including practical advice to students
not to encourage newspapers by leaking information to them.
9. Against that background, I would make
a number of observations.
(a) First of all, the print media has shown
a very great deal of restraint with regard both to William and,
more importantly, to the other students. I can think of only a
handful of cases where issues have arisen—none of them serious—and
these have been sorted out with the assistance of the PCC. (There
were some initial problems—far more serious—relating
to a TV company filming in the town during William's first week;
but that, of course, was not the responsibility of the press or
the PCC.) The press deserves much credit for this self-restraint
and respect for the Code particularly in relation to the rights
of ordinary people.
(b) The students themselves—prompted
I think by the clear guidance that was given to them by me, the
PCC and the Students Association at the start of the term, all
acting in harmony—have behaved impeccably in not leaking
material to newspapers or broadcasters.
(c) The role of the PCC has been crucial
for the ordinary students at the University. The Commission helped
guide the students through a potentially very difficult time and
was at all times willing and eager to help with general advice
or on specific issues. They continue to be of assistance—and
I know they will play a continuing and valuable role in the years
ahead.
10. I hope this submission is helpful in
underlining the importance of the Code, the work of the Commission
and the impact of the print media on ordinary individuals thrown
temporarily into a potentially uncomfortable media spotlight.
20 January 2003
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