Abraham Lincoln used to do it, Bush did, Major, Thatcher all did – it’s a nice action and shouldn’t be sneared at in the way the Sun did.

My only point was that Brown, probably for his well reported character flaws, seems isolated and unable to call on help when it’s needed.

Those letters are a matter of record and he should have got the deceased soldiers name right and he should not have argued with that woman when the name was wrong. The Sun got her name wrong on their website as well but they are a newspaper not a Prime Minister.

All I’m saying is that if Brown was a more pleasant character people may have helped him rather than being afraid of a flying Nokia mobile phone heading in their direction.

Farage has known about Wise’s crookedness since 2005; read through our previous reports on the subject, it’s all there. It is not “absolutely ruthless” to allow him to remain a member for four years after that.

Anon,

Read this fantastic article by Professor John Curtice on the waning impact of newspapers:- http://www.progressonline.org.uk/Magazine/article.asp?a=4855

I think the reason the PM’s letter wasn’t checked by anyone is that he wrote it himself, by hand, put it in the envelope and left it to be mailed. No spin, nothing, just the honest, heartfelt condolences from one parent who has lost a child to another.

All newspapers tell lies. Many mention the Sun and its (incorrect) reporting of Hillsborough but to many that was just reporting facts that they believed to be true.

Unlike the Mirror when it faked photos of our servicemen (supposedly) urinating on and torturing Iraqi prisoners while our troops were in theater. The Sun has it’s self to blame on Merseyside but no troops lives were in danger so you pay your money blah blah.

Labour know exactly how important the Sun is and even though they know they’ll (rightly) lose the next election it’s the scale that worries them and that’s where I believe the Sun will make a difference.

William Hague as a parrot hanging upside down and Neil Kinnock in a lightbulb are images that affect people and they do matter – no other paper in the UK can do that.

Sure the Sun does carry some influence, it’s lies by some are believed but the Brown story will just in the eyes of many make every story they do, just seem that little less reliable.

The Guardian is going bust because it’s views are pretty outlandish and no one takes the Indy seriously but having read the editorial myself, why would they.

The Times (which I have delivered) is the Sun written for older readers and the Mail, while certainly very popular, is too biased to the right.

Pretty much the same as the Mirror is too biased to the left. Mind you employing a berk like Kevin McGuire obviously means you’ll never be taken seriously for your politics. Good for a laugh though. Even he’s give up on Brown now, like Toynebee and Yasmin now claim they never supported him. Yeah right.

The Telegraph? OK it got the expenses scandal out there and let us see how morally corrupt these MP’s are but it’s a one trick pony.

Which leaves Britain’s most popular paper, read in canteens and offices the country over. Add to that most only want to look at page 3 you have a huge block of voters who will vote for whoever the Sun says they should.

Also the Sun gets it on other things. While the Indy is banging on about some new speculative global warming threat with a picure of an iceberg, the Sun features pictures of young men in coffins coming home from Afganistan.

The most stupid thing I’ve seen was Tony Woodley tearing up a copy of the Sun with the large headline showing “Labour Has Lost It”. He should have folded the paper just to show the red top and not the headline. Stupid man.

“Ian the tide had already turned against Brown – the Sun, being the UK’s most popular and politically important paper”

it is the most popular but ‘politically important’ come off it !!

in the days of the net and blogs it has less influence than ever before and what it did this week was to highlight just how vicious it is and from the responses generally sympathy has gone to Brown on this one.

It’s not as open or free as Guido and is more partisan but the debate seems good and the language on GF is a bit off putting.

There was a time when the Left hated war and the Republicans in the US. How times have changed. No longer are the likes of Tony Benn admired for having principals – they all huddle around the middle or centre ground as it’s called.

Ian the tide had already turned against Brown – the Sun, being the UK’s most popular and politically important paper, just gets the pulse of the nation better and backs winners. It was never “The Sun Wot Won It”.

What I would say is Brown and Labour are so far off getting what people want in this country that I can see him being dragged from Downing Street next year, hanging on to the door frame by his bitten fingernails and bellowing about “taking the hard decisions and just getting on with the job”.