In an interview with columnist Caitlin Moran in the Radio Times, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke against the implementation of online paywalls, arguing that "People will pay for certain things, and should pay for certain things, but I think there's a whole sort of element of communication that's got to be free." He continued, adding that "people mind paying for basic news."

As the Telegraph points out, Brown's position is similar to that of Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who believes that paywalls will work only for niche and specialist markets. Brown's pointed statement seems to be directed against News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch, who recently announced his plans to move the digital content of News International papers like The Sunday Times and The Sun behind a paywall.
Brown's timely comments may have a political subtext, Techradar notes. With a general election next month, the Prime Minister may be doing his best to court young music and tech fans, in order to capture the important "early-adopters" vote this week. The Guardian also brought up a possible connection between the fact that Murdoch's titles recently switched from supporting the Labour towards backing the Conservatives in the upcoming May elections.

Following this change of allegiance, Brown had accused The Sun of trying to "become a political party," reported the Press Gazette. Culture secretary Ben Bradshaw even accused the Conservative Party of having "sub-contracted" its media policy to News International, and called Murdoch the company's "rapacious proprietor."

As the Telegraph notes, ironically, the Radio Times interview is not available online - even though it is not even behind a paywall.