It's the Sun what overdone it

The Sun may have overdone its latest attack on Gordon Brown in its 'Don't you know there's a bloody war on?' campaign and elicited some sympathy for the embattled prime minister. The public mood seems to be against its vociferous attacks on him over his alleged spelling errors in a handwritten letter of condolence sent to a mother killed in Afghanistan. What appeared to have been a spelling mistake may have been poor handwriting resulting from the prime minister's deficient eyesight.

Some 65 per cent of respondents to a PoliticsHome poll characterised the tabloid's coverage as 'inappropriate' rather than legitimate journalism and 48 per cent said they were more inclined to defend the prime minister as a result. Government insiders claimed to have detected signs that News International, the newspaper's parent company, were 'slightly rattled' by evidence of a backlash.