In a recent article for The Sun, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer wrote about his staunch support for press freedom and freedom of speech.

“Journalism,” he said, “is the lifeblood of democracy.”

Journalists are guardians of democratic values. These simple facts are so woven into the fabric of our society that we often take them for granted.

We stand with journalists who endure threats just for doing their job. Just because journalists are brave does not mean they should ever suffer intimidation. This is a government that will always champion Press freedoms.

No one could argue with that. Yet, not for the first time, Starmer was speaking with forked tongue.

As the former Political Editor of The Sun, Trevor Kavanagh, points out in this brilliant historical essay, Sir Keir launched Operation Eleven in 2011 in which prosecutions were brought against about two dozen Sun and News of the World journalists, charging them with “conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office”.

Reporters and editors, including a Fleet Street legend honoured twice by the British Press Awards as Reporter of the Year, were hauled through the highest court in the land. After four traumatic years on police bail, living with the fear of imprisonment, every single defendant was exonerated without a stain on their characters.

In his article for The Sun, the Prime Minister hailed journalists as “guardians of democratic values… the lifeblood of democracy”. His persecution of innocent journalists for performing this noble role exposes those words as meretricious cant.

The Prime Minister  may claim to care about human rights, but when it comes to free speech, the most important human right of all, Sir Keir acts less like a defender of democracy and more like the authoritarian leader of a banana republic.