Brown tries to bury Damians Green and McBride as he finally mutters ‘sorry’

Gordon Brown handed bewildered Westminster hacks a dilemma this morning - exactly which bit of bad news and which Damian is he trying to bury today?

First we had the Home Affairs select committee pretty much saying the police had been misled by government suggestions that Home Office leaks over immigration figures to Tory MP Damian Green were a matter of national security, which they weren't. Bad news for Home Secretary Jacqui Smith.

Then we had the CPS announcing to absolutely nobody's surprise that neither Mr Green nor his tame leaker, Christopher Galley, were to be prosecuted - more bad news for Jacqui Smith who still went on TV to say it might have been a matter of national security.

Then, completely out of the blue, we had the much-demanded 'sorry' from Gordon Brown over the smear emails from Damian McBride. It was classic Brown as well, when asked if the buck stopped with him he replied: "I take full responsibility for what happens, that is why the person responsible went immediately." (That person was McBride not Brown, you will have noticed.)

One of the email victims, Tory MP Nadine Dorries, was quick to suggest this was all another piece of good old spin of the sort Mr Brown has been insisting is dead and buried. He had belatedly apologised in an attempt to distract attention from the Damian Green affair and his beleaguered Home Secretary.

She may well be right, but it only adds to the notion that Downing Street still doesn't get the modern media. It is no longer the case that one big story elbows another off the top of the news.

In the era of 24 hour rolling news, the internet and widespread blogging, there's plenty of room for every story to blossom.

THE MOLE: SPIN

FIRST POSTED APRIL 16, 2009