Wade on a war footing

Only a couple of weeks in the hot seat, and Rebekah Wade is already producing a Sun with the sort of energy and controversy reminiscent of Kelvin MacKenzie's legendary editorship in the Eighties - see it as "traditional Sun values in a modern setting" if you're into New Labour-speak.

Not that there's much New Labour left in Wade's Sun. Yesterday's front page was split between a picture of Kylie Minogue in skimpy underwear (so much for feminist hopes that she might clean it up - Page 3 is alive and still topless as well) and a cheeky banner headline - "You All Right Dave?" - implying that Home Secretary David Blunkett had lost his marbles because he had the temerity to attack The Sun's hardline stance on asylum seekers.

But Blunkett is clearly not tough enough for Wade. She has jumped on the anti-refugee bandwagon now that our chaotic system of dealing with asylum seekers has become associated in the public mind with terrorists infiltrating our shores - and exploited the public mood mercilessly.

So far, more than 300,000 readers have signed The Sun's petition calling on the Government to take a much harder line against illegal immigrants - rather more than those who've signed the Mirror's anti-war petition - and I wouldn't be surprised if it eventually collected over half a million - for this is the hot-button topic of the day and public anger is widespread and growing.

I suspect New Labour is in for many more such rude awakenings from the paper. But not on the likely war with Iraq: The Sun remains four-square behind Tony Blair. This, interestingly, puts it on a collision course with its arch-rival Daily Mirror, which editor Piers Morgan has turned into the peaceniks' favourite tabloid.

War with Iraq has its dangers for both editors. If an Anglo-American invasion goes wrong, Wade will find herself supporting an unpopular war which never had much public support in the first place - not a comfortable place for the editor of a mass-circulation tabloid to be. But Morgan faces greater dangers. The Mirror will have to make a wrenching gearchange the moment British troops are deployed into battle, for no tabloid can be seen to be against "our boys" when they are flying the flag and risking their lives.

And if the liberation of Iraq is achieved with a short and successful campaign, Morgan's Mirror will find itself on the wrong side of the argument.

The danger is all the greater for Morgan because of the manner in which he has mounted his anti-war campaign: not, like The Guardian, with considered argument, but by a series of tabloid stunts designed largely for front-page effect rather than substance.

Monday's Mirror was a picture of one of its own anti-war front pages projected onto the House of Commons, headlined "Still not got the message, Mr Blair?" Yesterday it was picture of President Bush with a huge "Cool it, Cowboy" banner.

Morgan is clearly having great fun with his Page 1 anti-war stunts but I suspect even his (so far) largely sympathetic readership is getting browned off with the relentless diet of propaganda being shoved down their throats every morning - his January sales are already running almost 100,000 below January 2002 (and 200,000 down on a Saturday).

Wade has positioned The Sun to deliver the coup de grace to its old enemy in the event of a successful campaign. Her editorials are blunter than the cerebral Yelland's, her appetite for the pursuit of populist causes, even dubious ones, clearly immense. Kelvin would approve - and, more important, so does Rupert Murdoch.

Robinson tires of playing the Statesman

Robinson has let the magazine run to the Left of New Labour, positioned to support a Gordon Brown leadership bid. Perhaps he now thinks that's a long shot - given the deteriorating state of the economy - and grown tired of financing its losses. After Robinson's recent brush with the law he might no longer see himself as best placed to be a kingmaker. I will investigate and report back.

Hugh Trevor-Roper - my part in his humiliation

I was sorry to read of the death of Hugh Trevor-Roper (aka Lord Dacre) for I devoured his wonderful books while studying history at university. His career never quite recovered from his "authentication" of the so-called Hitler Diaries for The Sunday Times, but I probably have him to thank for mine. Rupert Murdoch had to find a scapegoat for the fiasco and pounced on the hapless Frank Giles, whom I was brought in to replace as editor.

Just as well Murdoch never saw my report for American TV on the diaries, which ended with me standing outside Times Newspapers, saying Murdoch was too embarrassed to give an interview while holding up a wonderful cartoon from that day's Standard which depicted Hitler lounging back on a chair, foot on desk, a fountain pen wedged between his toes scribbling on his desk and the caption: "So, you think we Germans no sense of humour have!"

I had not intended to return to The Independent this week but Monday's cartoon by Dave Brown was an appalling lapse of taste which cannot pass without comment.

Aping Goya's Saturn Eating His Children, it depicted Ariel Sharon as a naked ogre biting off the head of what was clearly meant to be a Palestinian baby.

There are many good reasons to be against Israel's hard-line prime minister but this is all too reminiscent, as a furious letter from the Israeli Embassy pointed out, of the sort of disgusting "Jew-baiting" cartoons that were common in Hitler's Nazi newspapers during the Third Reich.

It is quite possibly the most offensive cartoon published in a respectable British newspaper for a generation and a sad illustration of how too often legitimate criticism of Sharon and Israel slip all too easily and disgracefully into unconscionable anti-Semitism.

True, The Independent published the strong letter of complaint from the embassy - but that's hardly enough. The cartoon's publication raises questions about editor Simon Kelner's judgment.

It is possible that Kelner was not on duty on Sunday - most editors take that day off - and did not see it. But he presides over a newspaper which thought it proper to publish such a cartoon and must take responsibility for it.

Neither proprietor Tony O'Reilly nor publisher Ivan Fallon - decent people who must also be appalled - can surely let the matter rest.

Carole knows where all the bodies are buried

Blair's lifestyle guru Carole

Caplin has been signed up by

The Mail on Sunday, the paper that provoked the Cheriegate row. I'm sure Ms Caplin will be discreet and not dabble in politics, but Campbell regards her as a "bomb waiting to explode".

Potentially far more dangerous than her con-man boyfriend Peter Foster, she knows almost everything there is to know about the Blairs, having spoken to Cherie several times a day for more than a decade.

Should she ever feel inclined to spill the beans she now has the perfect vehicle.

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