Faull denies website ‘gag’ attempt as founder quits Parliament post

Date: 12/09/02

By Martin Banks

THE head of the European Commission's press service has hit back at claims that he tried to gag a satirical EU website as 'just nonsense'. The founders of The Sprout website have accused Jonathan Faull of ordering his staff not to cooperate with it.

Freelance journalist Martin Jay said he had it on 'good authority' that this was the case.

'I find this quite outrageous. Faull should lighten up and realise we are trying to inject some much-needed humour into the coverage of the European Union,' said former TV cameraman Jay, 38, who has worked in Brussels for seven years.

'The Commission would be better off thinking about the results of our online poll which showed that 75 of the 1,100 people who responded said Neil Kinnock was incapable of reforming the EU.

'We're already working on our next edition and refuse to be intimidated by this blatant attempt to gag us.'

Faull strongly rebutted the accusations. 'It's just nonsense,' he said. 'Martin Jay is an accredited journalist and we will deal with him in the normal way.'

Sources close to Kinnock, however, admitted that they had chosen not to agree to an interview request by Jay for a British newspaper. Instead, they spoke to another journalist on the paper.

Meanwhile, Jay's co-founder Gawain Towler has resigned as assistant to UK Conservative MEP Nirj Deva, saying the post was 'incompatible' with his role on The Sprout.

Towler, 34, who has worked for Deva since 1999, unsuccessfully stood as a UK parliamentary candidate for the Tories in Glasgow last year.

The head of the European Commission's press service has hit back at claims that he tried to gag a satirical EU website as 'just nonsense'. The founders of 'The Sprout' website have accused Jonathan Faull of ordering his staff not to co-operate with it.