"The cut and paste minister"

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the situation,after a year dominated by scandals of fake Tv shows,the news that the Culture secretary has been caught out doctoring photographs can only be viewed with pure irony.

The Mail calls him" The cut and paste minister" for example in the paper this morning.

What seems to have occurred is that James Purnell was invited to Tameside hospital in Greater Manchester along with four other local MP'S.However he was late and after the others had their pictures taken,Mr Purnell was photographed in a similar position and the image was later added to the picture.

As we would not be able to stage a repeat of this historic day for the hospital, we decided to take a photograph of Mr Purnell in the same spot very shortly after, and merge it with the earlier photograph, to which Mr Purnell kindly consented.''

said a spokesman.

Whether the Culture Sec actually consented to this is unclear.His department denies any complicity in the affair.

Here is a reminder of what the culture sec said two weeks ago

In both politics and television, you devalue the only currency you have if you forfeit the trust of the public. I’m glad to see that there is a widespread recognition that something has seriously gone wrong and that it needs to be put right. Lessons need to be learned. But there is a right lesson and a wrong lesson to draw.