By Alyson Fixter
Columnist Stephen Glover is back at The Spectator, eight months
after a row with editor Boris Johnson, which led to him quitting his
weekly column.
Johnson, who claims he “can’t really remember” what the original
disagreement was about, told Press Gazette he was glad to have his
former colleague back at the magazine.
Glover walked out on the
right-wing title in February after Johnson refused to publish comments
about impending staff cuts at The Daily Telegraph, claiming they were
inappropriate in a magazine owned by the same parent company as the
newspaper.At the time, Johnson said: “Stephen makes a great song and
dance about his independence as a media commentator, but the fact is
that he is paid largely by the Daily Mail and I don’t believe I have
often seen him writing about the Mail or about the decisions of editor
Paul Dacre or Associated Newspapers.”
Since the resignation, Glover has been writing both for the Mail and The Independent’s media section.
He
told the Evening Standard last week that his reprised role at The
Spectator would not affect his work at the Indy, and that he would have
“a broader remit writing about the media industry, with more comment on
broadcasting and the BBC”.
Johnson said Glover would not return as a weekly columnist, and was more likely to appear in the magazine monthly.
He added: “Stephen walked out on us and I can’t really remember what it was all about.
“I can’t remember how [his return] came about, I think we were just having a chat and the idea came up.
“He’s a popular columnist and we’re very glad to have him back.”
He said there had been “no discussion” about the issues of censorship that led to Glover’s original departure.
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