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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
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| Top Tory criticises Sun PM attack | Top Tory criticises Sun PM attack |
| (1 day later) | |
| A frontbench Tory peer has criticised The Sun newspaper for using a story about a grieving mother to mount a "very personal" attack on Gordon Brown. | A frontbench Tory peer has criticised The Sun newspaper for using a story about a grieving mother to mount a "very personal" attack on Gordon Brown. |
| Shadow security minister Baroness Neville-Jones said on Question Time the paper had "got it wrong" and that David Cameron would share that view. | |
| The Conservative leader has yet to comment on the Jacqui Janes story. | The Conservative leader has yet to comment on the Jacqui Janes story. |
| Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward said Mr Cameron should "distance himself" from the paper. | Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward said Mr Cameron should "distance himself" from the paper. |
| The Sun, which switched its backing from Labour to the Conservatives earlier this year, has been highly critical of Mr Brown over the equipment for troops in Afghanistan and a letter he wrote to Mrs Janes expressing his condolences at the loss of her son, which contained apparent spelling errors. | The Sun, which switched its backing from Labour to the Conservatives earlier this year, has been highly critical of Mr Brown over the equipment for troops in Afghanistan and a letter he wrote to Mrs Janes expressing his condolences at the loss of her son, which contained apparent spelling errors. |
| 'Decent reaction' | 'Decent reaction' |
| Speaking on BBC One's Question Time, Baroness Neville-Jones, a former chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee, said: "I do commend the prime minister for taking the trouble to write to people. It shows, I think, a proper duty towards people that have laid down their life, to their families. | |
| "What's gone wrong, I think, is somewhere in his private office. People should actually look carefully at anything the prime minister sends." | "What's gone wrong, I think, is somewhere in his private office. People should actually look carefully at anything the prime minister sends." |
| I talk to Rupert Murdoch on a number of occasions and I talked to him this week - it was a very friendly conversation Gordon Brown, prime minister Brown hopeful over Afghan boost | I talk to Rupert Murdoch on a number of occasions and I talked to him this week - it was a very friendly conversation Gordon Brown, prime minister Brown hopeful over Afghan boost |
| Asked whether she thought Mr Cameron should distance himself from the newspaper over the story, she said: "I don't particularly like what they did with it... and I think, actually, their readers clearly didn't - and they are right. Their readers are right. They made a mistake." | Asked whether she thought Mr Cameron should distance himself from the newspaper over the story, she said: "I don't particularly like what they did with it... and I think, actually, their readers clearly didn't - and they are right. Their readers are right. They made a mistake." |
| Asked if David Cameron would share that view, she said: "I think he would because I think the decent reaction of people is that you don't go on and on like that." | Asked if David Cameron would share that view, she said: "I think he would because I think the decent reaction of people is that you don't go on and on like that." |
| She added: "The Sun has its own editorial line. I am quite certain that nobody in the Tory party is actually going to foster this kind of personal attack - because it did become very personal and I don't like that. I think we should fight our politics clean." | She added: "The Sun has its own editorial line. I am quite certain that nobody in the Tory party is actually going to foster this kind of personal attack - because it did become very personal and I don't like that. I think we should fight our politics clean." |
| But she accused Mr Woodward, who before his defection to Labour was the Conservative Party's communications chief, of "hypocrisy" and of taking a "holier than thou" attitude after he questioned Mr Cameron's judgement in not distancing himself from the paper. | But she accused Mr Woodward, who before his defection to Labour was the Conservative Party's communications chief, of "hypocrisy" and of taking a "holier than thou" attitude after he questioned Mr Cameron's judgement in not distancing himself from the paper. |
| Mr Woodward accused The Sun of using Mrs Janes' letter to mount a "character assassination against the prime minister for getting the spellings wrong". | Mr Woodward accused The Sun of using Mrs Janes' letter to mount a "character assassination against the prime minister for getting the spellings wrong". |
| Murdoch 'respect' | Murdoch 'respect' |
| He said it was "rather unlikely" that Mr Cameron would "distance himself from the Sun forever" but added: "On this issue he should show judgement, he should actually show that he thinks this newspaper, which he presumably thinks he needs, nevertheless has done something very wrong. | He said it was "rather unlikely" that Mr Cameron would "distance himself from the Sun forever" but added: "On this issue he should show judgement, he should actually show that he thinks this newspaper, which he presumably thinks he needs, nevertheless has done something very wrong. |
| "Not only to hurt the prime minister unfairly but actually by bringing this woman's incredible grief into a public place of a kind that I think just shouldn't happen." | "Not only to hurt the prime minister unfairly but actually by bringing this woman's incredible grief into a public place of a kind that I think just shouldn't happen." |
| Mr Brown has confirmed that he had a telephone conversation on Tuesday with Sun proprietor Rupert Murdoch but declined to comment on its contents, beyond saying it was "very friendly". | Mr Brown has confirmed that he had a telephone conversation on Tuesday with Sun proprietor Rupert Murdoch but declined to comment on its contents, beyond saying it was "very friendly". |
| He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I talk to Rupert Murdoch on a number of occasions and I talked to him this week. It was a very friendly conversation." | He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I talk to Rupert Murdoch on a number of occasions and I talked to him this week. It was a very friendly conversation." |
| "I have got a great deal of respect for what he has done and I hope that he has some respect for me." | "I have got a great deal of respect for what he has done and I hope that he has some respect for me." |
| Asked if they had discussed the coverage of Mrs Janes' letter, he said: "What decisions the Sun makes through its editor and then through its British operations is a matter for them and I am really not going to get involved in that. | Asked if they had discussed the coverage of Mrs Janes' letter, he said: "What decisions the Sun makes through its editor and then through its British operations is a matter for them and I am really not going to get involved in that. |
| "I want to be able to show that what we are doing and the decisions we make are thought out, they are carefully examined before we announce them, we know what we are doing and we share the sense of pain that all members of the public have when you see loved ones lost and you see casualties. | "I want to be able to show that what we are doing and the decisions we make are thought out, they are carefully examined before we announce them, we know what we are doing and we share the sense of pain that all members of the public have when you see loved ones lost and you see casualties. |
| "But this is a job that is about, if I may say so, the security of the United Kingdom and sometimes we never talk about this. | "But this is a job that is about, if I may say so, the security of the United Kingdom and sometimes we never talk about this. |
| "Popular or unpopular as they are at the time, it is the right thing to make decisions that involve making sure that the security of our people is the first priority." | "Popular or unpopular as they are at the time, it is the right thing to make decisions that involve making sure that the security of our people is the first priority." |
| Mr Brown said he was "sympathetic" to any idea, such as a US-style national military cemetery, that would help ease the grief of victims' families. | Mr Brown said he was "sympathetic" to any idea, such as a US-style national military cemetery, that would help ease the grief of victims' families. |