Media is a feral beast, says PM who thrived on spin

He claimed standards were being driven down by fierce competition and that this was affecting the ability of politicians to make the right decisions.

The Prime Minister argued that the relationship between public figures and the media had been so damaged that it was affecting the country's self-confidence.

And while saying a free media was vital, he raised the possibility of Europe-wide regulations to control how papers and television

operate. But he admitted that his own reliance on spin had triggered a dramatic breakdown in relations between politicians and the media.

His critique drew a blistering response from former Tory leader Michael Howard who said it showed "breathtaking hypocrisy".

One of Mr Blair's most senior former officials also hit back at the speech. Sir Christopher Meyer, head of the independent Press Complaints Commission, said it was not true that the press had become more vicious in recent years.

"Sometimes they will behave in a feral way, but sometimes you will see them behaving like sloppy labradors absorbing the line given to them by No 10 spokesmen," he said. "I don't really think there is any differencein canine behaviour now compared with 10 or 12 years ago."

And last night Mr Blair's officials faced accusations of heavy-handed media management after they intervened to block filming of the question-and-answer session that followed his contentious speech.

Journalists from ITV were asked to hand over their video tapes and Downing Street later claimed they had breached an existing agreement not to film the session.

Downing Street said the remarks - delivered at a seminar organised by the news agency Reuters - were an "honest assessment" of what Mr Blair had learned in ten years in office.

The Prime Minister claimed it had been necessary to court the media when he took over as leader in 1994 to make up for their "ferocious hostility" to Labour.

But the "inordinate attention" the party paid to newspapers and television by briefing favoured journalists and leaking news in advance had fuelled cynicism.

The Prime Minister said increased competition brought on by 24-hour news channels and the

Internet had intensified competition and put pressure on politicians to respond more quickly.

He said: "I am going to say something that few people in public life will say, but most know is absolutely true: a vast aspect of our jobs today - outside of the really major decisions, as big as anything else - is coping with the media, its sheer scale, weight and constant hyperactivity. At points, it literally overwhelms."

The media now hunted in a pack on major stories, he claimed, adding: "In these modes it is like a feral beast, just tearing people and reputations to bits. But no one dares miss out."

But he also claimed that the distinction-between news and comment-was increasingly blurred.

As an example, he singled out the Independent newspaper which has campaigned against the Government on issues such as the Iraq war.

The Internet, he said, had made things worse because it was "even more pernicious, less balanced, more intent on the latest conspiracy theory multiplied by five."

But Mr Howard said: "It is breathtaking hypocrisy from him to talk about cynicism without recalling the main cause of cynicism which is, as I have said before to his face, the lying and bullying which Alastair Campbell brought to political life."