AddThis SmartLayers

Tony Blair

What we have written about Tony Blair

Government support forNew Horizons

A campaign run by the Carlisle News and Star to encourage the region’s youngsters to attend university has received the backing of Tony Blair. After the newspaper launched its New Horizons campaign to try to encourage the area’s talented state

Downing Street intervention fails to halt Mercury story

Page 1 of 2 Downing Street moves to kill an East Kent Mercury story failed – despite hurried press day calls to the editor by the PM’s press secretary, Alistair Campbell. Graham Tutthill, chief reporter of the Mercury’s Dover edition,

Regional press encouraging debate

Tony Blair has invited readers of the Middlesborough Evening Gazette to ask him any question they want. The Prime Minister has promised to respond to letters sent to the paper on any aspect of Government policy – as well as

Floods crisis could be solved by readers

A massive public consultation has been launched by the Shropshire Star to find a solution to the region’s flooding problem. More than 30,000 homes in the Shrewsbury area are to get a survey form to give their views. The idea

BSE secrecy highlights 'poor' FoI Bill

The inadequacy of the Government’s Freedom of Information Bill has been highlighted by the findings of the BSE inquiry, according to the Campaign for the Freedom of Information. The Campaign claims public safety would continue to be put at risk

Gazette's business boost

A newspaper campaign to start 365 new businesses in a year has got off to a flying start – with 39 ventures in its first 22 days. The initiative, run by the Middlesbrough Evening Gazette, has a goal of helping

Hague promises "real" freedom of information

Page 2 of 2 He also criticised the Labour government’s attempts at news management which, he said, had overdone the attempt to control and bully journalists. Mr Hague pointed to the party’s new campaigning approach to the next general election.

The quest for truth

Page 1 of 2 Jamie Shea, NATO’s head of press and information, told the Society ofEditors conference in Cardiff that he had refused to let truth become acasualty of the Kosovan war. On one occasion he had torn up the

Tony answers the Herald Express

The Prime Minister has written for the Herald Express in a response to the Torquay paper’s campaign to win Justice for Pensioners. Almost 5,000 readers signed a petition calling for pensions to be linked to earnings. Editor Brendan Hanrahan wrote

Shayler heads for the footie

Former secret agent David Shayler has sent a message to his local paper the Middlesbrough Evening Gazette – “See you at the football”. The devoted Boro’ fan arrived back in Dover on Monday was taken to Charing Cross police station

New Leo photo – exclusive!

The Northern Echo risked the wrath of Downing Street again as it printed another exclusive photo of baby Leo, a new arrival at the Prime Minister’s north-east home. Cameras flashed, reporters crowded around, eager for a glimpse of the recently-christened

Missing Lucie: Chronicle editor on Japanese TV

Japanese TV journalists have been to the Sevenoaks Chronicle to get the low-down on how the British media is covering the disappearance of Lucie Blackman. Lucie, from Sevenoaks, went missing while working as a hostess in bars in Japan. The

Farewell to an Angel

One of the leading lights in The Northern Echo’s campaign to win recognition for unsung war heroes has died. Maisie White, 92, was a former Aycliffe Angel, one of the women who spent the Second World War working in a

Operation Safer Streets

Prime Minister Tony Blair has praised the Birmingham Evening Mail for its backing of Operation Safer Streets, a West Midlands police crackdown on mugging and robbery. He spoke exclusively to the Mail’s political editor, Shaun Connolly, before an emergency summit

Long-serving editor bows out with faith in the future of newspapers

One of the longest editorships in the regional daily press ended yesterday when Peter Butterfield retired from the Lancashire Evening Telegraph. He had been in charge of the Blackburn-based Newsquest title for 15 years – a period he described as

Book that Blair reads is set to aid charity

The fatherly exploits of editor Peter Barron are set to aid charity through a new book based on his weekly column in the Northern Echo. Volume 1 of Dad at Large – a compilation of articles from the column of