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Lord Mandelson deepened the row over a British soldier killed in Afghanistan today with an attack on the Sun's “bad taste and crude politicking”.
The Business Secretary seized on the newspaper's coverage of the case of Guardsman Jamie Janes as proof of an attempt by media tycoon Rupert Murdoch to influence the general election.
Lord Mandelson lambasted the Sun as the uncle of the dead soldier defended Gordon Brown and a military backlash continued over “political exploitation” of his mother's grief.
The peer told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: “If you look at emails received overwhelmingly, by the BBC, Sky News and the Sun itself, from the public, they've clearly made up their own minds about the Sun's mixture of bad taste and crude politicking. They have seen through it and don't like it.”
Lord Mandelson said the newspaper was treating the Government as if it was the real “enemy” of the troops, rather than the Taliban. He said that Mr Murdoch's News Corporation was trying to use its extensive reach to get the Conservatives into power.
“I think a wider question is that when the Sun creates the news in this way, this is then followed up by SkyNews and then puts pressure on the BBC to follow suit. I think this has wider implications for the election.”
Army veteran Ian Cox said he was outraged that the newspaper had “used” his sister Jacqui Janes's grief over the loss of her son in Afghanistan to attack the Prime Minister. As Mr Brown marked Armistice Day at Westminster Abbey, a string of former Army figures paid tribute to the premier's sincerity for writing a letter of condolence to families of the fallen.
British soldiers in Helmand today held a two-minute silence for all troops killed since the First World War. At 11am local time, the 11 Light Brigade bowed their heads at the operational headquarters in Lashkar Gah. At Camp Bastion a 105mm light gun marked the start of the silence.
Mrs Janes moved to draw a line under the row last night by publicly accepting Mr Brown's apology for mistakes in a letter he had written.
The Conservative-supporting Sun insisted it had “no regrets” over the decision to release a taped conversation between Mr Brown and Mrs Janes.
Reader views (11)
Where was Mandelson's criticism when 'The Sun' supported Labour for years?
Apart from that, who gives a damn what he thinks? Odious little man.
- Roger, Devon, 12/11/2009 08:41
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Perhaps I'm in the minority but I found Brown trying to use the death of his own child through natural causes to squirm out of the situation distasteful, especially when he was comparing it to the death of someone as a direct result of his own party’s (and by inaction his own) actions. I notice Meddlesome had nothing to say about that?
- Bob, Cheam, 11/11/2009 14:51
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Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex
"It's not the governments fault that Cameron used you for his conference and then dumped the referendum on europe"
What typical hypocrisy nad obfuscation from a died in the wool Nu-Liebor supporter. Get your facts right Windy:
1) It was Tony Blair/Gordon Brown/New Labour that "PROMISED" us all a Referendum in ther Election manifesto and then blatently wormed their way out of it
2) David Cameron said he's give a Referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. As a result of Gordon Brown's duplicity there is NO Lisbon Treaty to vote on now - Gordon has signed it into EU Law. Had it not been signed after the Conservatives take control in 2010 then I believe Cameron WOULD have kept his word and held a Referendum.
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- Malcolm, London, 11/11/2009 13:36
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".. crude politicking .."
This is an accusation levelled by Mucky Mandelson no less?!
@ Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex
Jesus you die hard Labour supporters are desperate aren't you?
- Frank, Home Counties, England., 11/11/2009 12:26
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Windebank may find it inconvenient to be reminded that had Brown not reneged on Labour's manifesto promise of a referendum on the EU constitution, rejected by the French and the Dutch, then fraudulently altered to a treaty, the will of the country would have spoken and Cameron's requirement to address the UK's relationship with the EU would not have entered into the equation.
- Bingham Macnamara, lymington, hampshire, 11/11/2009 12:03
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I found a copy of the Sun on the train last night and thought the cartoon said it all about how the "nasty paperper" is a natural partner to "the nasty party!".
The cartoon was not only an affront to the prime minister it was also an affront to all disabled people and it's items like these that encourage the bullying some of our service men encounter when they return home having lost limbs or sufferred disfigurement.
As for Mrs Janes its one thing to complain about a letter but she politized it by going on about equipment and so led her to being seen as a spokespersonson of the Tory Party, question is - is she or her family linked to the Tory Party?
It's not the governments fault that Cameron used you for his conference and then dumped the referendum on europe!
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex, 11/11/2009 11:43
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I didn't hear any critisism when the Sun supported his party in the last two General Elections. What goes round comes round.
- Tojo, Hythe, Kent, 11/11/2009 11:33
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It's about time Mandelson quit the spin, lies and deceit and recognize that the "real" enemy is, indeed", the UK's poor excuse for a government.
This furore has nothing to do with Brown's letter, but all to do with his renegade attitude to Labour's manifesto, on which they were elected in 2005, his incompetence, his bullying, his deliberate obfuscation and his failure to grasp that he is dragging Britain down with him.
- Bingham Macnamara, lymington, hampshire, 11/11/2009 10:56
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Mrs Janes would be better off trying to regain some self respect.
- Carl, London, 11/11/2009 10:52
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The man from EUSSR (?) might be right in a general sense, but on this specific subject, I think Lord Mandelson has caught the public mood.
- John Hatfield, ipswich, 11/11/2009 10:40
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Joe Public has seen right through unelected, twice discredited Meddleslime and they do not like him one little bit.
- Reuben Camara, Plot 1, Morecambe Compound, EUSSR, 11/11/2009 10:08
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