The Sun backs Labour
The Sun newspaper has thrown its weight behind Labour ahead of the May 5 election.
Its political editor Trevor Kavanagh is predicting another “substantial” victory for Tony Blair.
Mr Kavanagh said: “We feel at this point in the political cycle we would not be in touch with our readers if we backed the Conservatives.”
The Sun, the traditional supporter of the Tories between 1979 and 1992, is backing Mr Blair after adjudging he and Gordon Brown to have delivered low inflation, low interest rates and low unemployment.
It also welcomed the tough reforms of public services and the unflinching support for the US-led Iraq war.
In a BBC interview last night Mr Blair refused to apologise for the Iraq war.
“If you want me to apologise for the war in Iraq, I am afraid I cannot say that I am sorry we removed Saddam Hussein,” the Prime Minister told Jeremy Paxman.
“It was a hard decision. I took the decision I thought was right.”
Mr Kavanagh said The Sun’s support was conditional as the asylum system remained a “shambles”, and there had been too little action on hospital superbugs.
The paper signalled its decision by sending a plume of red smoke from a chimney on the roof of its London HQ – mimicking events in Rome on Tuesday when the Catholic church used white smoke to signal that a new pope had been chosen.
The Sun has a circulation of about 3.2 million copies a day.
