Voters: Reds Blew It for Us Too
THE SUN: LABOUR voters let down by the Government told The Sun yesterday why they were turning their back on the Party.

Our website and text service was swamped by readers backing our decision to dump PM Gordon Brown and support David Cameron's Conservatives instead.

Those backing our stand include victims of crime, families of Our Boys serving on the front-line in Afghanistan and those left devastated after losing loved ones to NHS hospital superbugs like MRSA.

But mostly it was just the ordinary man and woman in the street saying they thought the Reds had blown it too - and after 12 long years of failure and disappointment, it was finally time for a change. >>> Alex Peake | Thursday, October 01, 2009

The Sun Has Finally Set on New Labour's Love Affair with the Media
THE TELEGRAPH: Like John Major before him, Gordon Brown is now a leader at war with those who report him, says Benedict Brogan

For most people, the details of which newspapers back which parties are about as interesting as the dusty weights and pulleys that keep the conference stage sets in place. What happens behind the theatre curtain is not meant to be noticed. The workings between press and politicians come under what Alastair Campbell used to deride as "processology", of negligible interest to voters perfectly capable of making their own judgments. But every now and then it is worth pulling aside the velvet brocade to understand why things are as they are.

If anything can be said about the Prime Minister's predicament at the end of what must be his last Labour conference as leader, it is that, like John Major before him, he is now a leader at war with those who report him. Not only is his message deeply flawed, but his best route to getting it heard is being closed off.

The Sun's decision to pull the plug on Gordon Brown, and on his big day to boot, is the latest spin in a downward spiral that was already well underway. The defection of the weathervane tabloid, although expected, has had a bigger effect in the Westminster village than it will have in the wider world. Although it compounded the already dire press reaction to the Prime Minister's speech, it also marked the final collapse of relations between New Labour and the media. >>> Benedict Brogan | Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Grande-Bretagne : Le «Sun» lâche le Labour
LE TEMPS: La prise de position du tabloïd souligne la puissance du magnat de la presse Rupert Murdoch

Même la pin-up quotidienne du Sun s’en trouve chamboulée. Au lieu de la traditionnelle page 3, elle s’est retrouvée mercredi renvoyée en page 7. Le tabloïd a en effet décidé d’utiliser le congrès du Parti travailliste pour très officiellement mettre fin à son soutien à Gordon Brown. «Après douze années au pouvoir, ce gouvernement s’est perdu. Maintenant, il a perdu le soutien du Sun aussi.» Sur cinq ­pages, plus un poster à détacher au centre, le tabloïd, qui tire quotidiennement à 3 millions d’exemplaires, détruit méthodiquement le bilan du premier ministre britannique. >>> Eric Albert | Jeudi 01 Octobre 2009

The Sun Says: Labour’s Lost It
THE SUN: TWELVE years ago, Britain was crying out for change from a divided, exhausted Government. Today we are there again.

In 1997, "New" Labour, shorn of its destructive hard-Left doctrines and with an energetic and charismatic leader, seemed the answer.

Tony Blair said things could only get better, and few doubted him. But did they get better? Well, you could point to investment in schools and shorter hospital waiting lists and say yes, some things did - a little.

But the real story of the Labour years is one of under-achievement, rank failure and a vast expansion of wasteful government interference in everyone's lives. >>> | Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The Sun’s dossier of Labour failures >>>

Related:
Gordon Brown Dismisses The Sun's Decision to Back Conservatives >>> | Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Gordon Brown Dismisses The Sun's Decision to Back Conservatives
THE TELEGRAPH: Gordon Brown has played down the damage that The Sun newspaper's decision to switch its support to the Conservatives will do to his electoral prospects, arguing that people, not newspapers, will decide the election.


The paper published a front page headline claiming ''Labour's lost it''.

But Mr Brown dismissed the impact of the decision. "I think Sun readers actually, when they look at what I say, they will agree with what I said," he told GMT.V [sic][.]

Asked whether the tabloid's support could decide the next General Election, Mr Brown replied: "No."

"Obviously, you want newspapers to be for you. We would have liked everybody to be on our side, but the people decide. I've got an old-fashioned opinion that you look to newspapers for news not opinions," he added.

In a separate round of broadcast interviews, Mr Brown added: "It's the British people that decide the election, it's the British people's views that I am interested in."

Rupert Murdoch's paper had backed the Labour party since 1997 when it switched from its traditional Tory leanings.

George Pascoe-Watson, the newspaper's political editor, told Sky News: "We warned back in 2005 that Labour was on its last chance.

"We feel now after four years that they have failed the country and they are letting Sun readers down." >>> | Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Gordon Brown Pleads to Voters as The Sun Withdraws Support
TIMES ONLINE: Gordon Brown played down the damage to his electoral prospects today after The Sun withdrew its support for the Labour Party.

The Prime Minister insisted that voters and not newspapers decided the Government, urging people to take a close look at his policies.

In a round of broadcast interviews, Mr Brown said: "It's the British people that decide the election, it's the British people's views that I am interested in."

Mr Brown told GMTV: "I think Sun readers actually, when they look at what I say, they will agree with what I said."

Asked whether the support of the best-selling redtop could decide the next General Election, as it was reputed to have done in 1992 by condemning Labour's leader Neil Kinnock, Mr Brown replied: "No."

He added: "Obviously, you want newspapers to be for you. We would have liked everybody to be on our side, but the people decide.

"I've got an old-fashioned opinion that you look to newspapers for news not opinions." >>> Philippe Naughton | Wednesday, September 30, 2009