the sun say's ...

[Brown Sauce]

[faceless]

I was wondering about that myself, but even Kay Burley on Sky News (may her soul be damned to hell) pointed out that in the run up to the election The Sun will reach about 10million people a day and they will all read at least some of the 7-8 pages worth of propaganda they will post each day, and that that will have an effect.

Any rag which chops and changes isn't even worth wiping the arse with though - The Scottish Sun completely supports Scottish Independence, while the English one is dead set against it. They're just a bunch of slimy bastard panderers.

[Brown Sauce]

10 million is quite a lot, it is Sky News though.

Back in the day, when Kinnock lost the '92 election, there was no internet to speak of. Kinnock was odds on to win, but the sun said no. And the sun was what won it.

I'm not so sure that it will have the same effect next time.

Maybe Murdoch is going with the general flow, maybe nu labors time is up. It might help to explain the two different stances on Scottish independance, if the general hope in Scotland is one for independance.

[faceless]

I was just watching the Scottish news here and it seems I was wrong to say they supported independence - in 2007 they changed to be against the SNP. Also, it was pointed out that in the Scottish Sun today they had the same headline, but didn't say they were supporting the Tories.

[luke]

maybe murdoch has just sensed the changing tide, like he did when he backed obama to win, like he did when he switched to labour in the first place. i've felt for quite a while now, going from media coverage and what friends are saying ( none who are really that into politics ), that labour will loose the next election.

looking at the suns demographic 'It reaches 2.9 million readers in the ABC1 demographic and 5.0 million in the C2DE demographic' i think C2DE people are less likely to vote than the ABC1's, but still, thats quite a number of people considering the low turn out at elections.

we best just prepare ourselves, we're heading for another tory government for the next decade or so ... and then we'll be back to labour, and thats democracy

an old article Neil: Murdoch does interfere at Sun

edit - i'm just listening to the radio and they've been out and about today asking sun readers what they make of it, and most of them said they don't vote anyway

[buddy55]

thank god murdoch has no say with fox news here in the u.s
but i bet he would love too he wants to run the world

[luke]

From 'lightweight' to likely PM - how David Cameron convinced Rupert Murdoch to back him
• Relationship began to thaw at dinner party
• George Osborne's networking also crucial to Sun's conversion

Just over a year ago, David Cameron had a mild case of nerves when he welcomed Rupert Murdoch to dinner at his Kensington home. The Tory leader knew the meal with the veteran media mogul, who once let it be known that he regarded him as something of a lightweight, would mark a pivotal moment in securing his most important endorsement ahead of the general election.

But the dinner finally paid off at around 10.00pm on Tuesday night when the Sun announced it would abandon its 12-year support of Labour. "Labour's lost it", the paper declared on its front page, a move designed to cause maximum damage to Gordon Brown hours after he delivered a conference speech that had even been praised by some Tories.

Shortly before the Sun's announcement – after he had been briefed by his new friends at News International – Cameron showed his relief when he mocked Peter Mandelson, one of the people credited with winning over the Sun to Labour in 1997. At a party at the German embassy in London on Tuesday, the Tory leader joked about Mandelson's offer at the weekend to serve under a Conservative government. "I have been wondering what sort of job I should offer Lord Mandelson," Cameron said. To laughter from the assembled diplomats, he added: "I do not think being in charge of a truth and reconciliation commission would be a good idea."

Cameron was on confident form but the journey toward Murdoch's approval had not been an easy one. Witnesses say that Cameron's relations with Murdoch have none of the natural warmth of the mogul's dealings with Margaret Thatcher; it is more a necessary meeting of minds.

But the lengthy run-up to today's Sun front page had all the elements of a HarperCollins thriller, with a Mediterranean yacht, a private jet and thirtysomethings bonding as they debated the issue of the moment – climate change.

The dinner which Cameron laid on for Murdoch in the first half of 2007 was seen by Tories as the moment when the ice began to break. Murdoch was accompanied by Rebekah Brooks, nee Wade, then editor of the Sun, who had been keen to establish better relations between her boss and Cameron. Brooks, now chief executive of News International, had been working closely with Andy Coulson, her successor as editor of the News of the World, who had become Cameron's communications director in July 2007.

All sides were twitchy. Murdoch had allowed his aides to brief that he regarded the young Tory leader as a lightweight soon after Cameron's election in 2005. Cameron's PR and upper-middle-class background did little to endear him to the Australian-born proprietor; his ideal politicians were Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, who rose from modest roots.

But one senior Tory said the Cameron-Murdoch dinner was a success.

"There is no secret that Rupert Murdoch wondered if this youngster … was really right in the eyes of an Ozzie," the Tory said. "It was only really when they spent time together that Murdoch realised David was very good at something he himself has excelled at – turning round a tired product."

Murdoch soon showed his growing approval of Cameron when he invited him aboard his yacht off the Greek island of Santorini in August last year. Cameron flew on a jet organised by Murdoch's son-in-law, Matthew Freud, from Santorini to join his family in Turkey.

One Tory said: "It was akin to the moment when Murdoch invited Tony Blair to address a News Corporation conference on Hayman Island, Australia, in 1995."

The breakthrough would not have been achieved without the growing rapport between the proprietor's son, James, and the Tory leader's closest ally, George Osborne. Those two, both in their late 30s, have become close friends of late. They are thought to have bonded when the shadow chancellor was summoned to explain the Tories' approach on climate change a few years ago.

A senior Tory said the dinner at the Knightsbridge hotel was a success. "James wanted to know how deep our commitment was to the green agenda," one Tory said. "It's fair to say he was impressed."

The loss of the Sun was proving painful for Labour. One minister said it was driven by a "dirty deal" after Cameron pledged to cut down the media regulator Ofcom, which wants to restrict BSkyB's sports subscription service.

But John Whittingdale, the Tory chairman of the Commons culture select committee, said: "It is possible to have all sorts of Machiavellian explanations. But Rupert Murdoch is in the business of selling newspapers. He is very good at gauging public opinion and he has rightly detected there is an overwhelming desire for a change of government."

Sun readers: How they voted

1992
Con 45%
Lab 36%
Lib Dem 15%

1997
Con 30%
Lab 52%
Lib Dem 12%

2001
Con 29%
Lab 52%
Lib Dem 11%

2005
Con 35%
Lab 44%
Lib Dem 10%

from http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/sep/30/david-cameron-rupert-murdoch-sun

[Brown Sauce]

deep commitment to the green agenda ? Utter nonsense.