PM Brown stung by tabloid's party switch

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LONDON, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, fresh from a well-received Labor Party address, was stung by a newspaper's switch of allegiance, analysts say.

The luster from a rousing keynote address Tuesday to the Labor Party conference in Brighton, England, in which Brown vowed to fight corruption and improve healthcare, was partially dimmed by a decision by the British tabloid The Sun to switch its endorsement to the Conservative Party, The Times of London reported.

With the headline, "Labor's Lost It," The Sun, for the first time in 12 years, dropped its support of the struggling Labor Party, The Times said. Sun political editor George Pascoe-Watson said the tabloid had warned Labor in 2005 that it was on its "last chance."

"I think Sun readers actually, when they look at what I say, they will agree with what I said," Brown told British broadcaster GMTV. "Obviously, you want newspapers to be for you. We would have liked everybody to be on our side, but the people decide. I've got an old-fashioned opinion that you look to newspapers for news not opinions."

Brown told the BBC he is not yet willing to commit to U.S.-style candidate debates with Tory leader David Cameron.