Defiant Labour tries to brush off Sun defection

GORDON Brown yesterday tried to brush off the impact of losing the support of The Sun, insisting that it is the British public, and not newspapers, who will decide the result of the coming general election.

Tory leader David Cameron declared himself “delighted” at the paper’s shift back to the Conservatives, which threatened to overshadow the fightback manifesto launched on Tuesday by the Prime Minister in his final conference speech before the election, expected in the spring.

In a round of TV interviews, the PM sought to turn attention back onto his new policies, which included free home care for elderly people, a maximum one-week wait for cancer tests, hostel accommodation for teenage mothers and a clampdown on yobs.