“David Cameron has been accused of touting a series of almost identical articles to local newspapers around the UK in an attempted PR “carpet bombing” of the country outside London.
The Yorkshire Post refused to publish what was billed as a “very personal” opinion piece by the prime minister.
The paper said it discovered tweaked versions of the same piece had been sent to several other regional titles as part of what it called a “sham media operation”.
The prime minister’s piece began with the words “I love Yorkshire & the Humber” and was designed to highlight some of the region’s attractions as part of English Tourism week.
In an editorial, the Yorkshire Post explains that a Downing Street press officer telephoned to offer the “very personal” piece but when the column arrived, doubts arose over how genuine it was.
“It appeared very formulaic, lacked empathy and only made passing reference to the misery caused by the Yorkshire floods,” the editorial says.
Then the newspaper discovered other regional and local publications had run remarkably similar pieces.
The Herald, Plymouth’s newspaper, published a piece from Cameron which
began with the words: “I love Cornwall and Isles of Scilly.” The Newcastle Chronicle carried a piece that started: “I love Northumberland.” And the same in the Lincolnshire Echo: “I love Lincolnshire.”
For the Cornish audience, the PM wrote: “From their stunning beaches
and coastal walks to their creative arts projects, this county is one
of the many jewels in Great Britain’s crown.”
For the north-east: “From Hadrian’s Wall to Europe’s biggest sky park,
this county is one of the many jewels in Great Britain’s crown.”
For Lincolnshire, the PM said: “From the quaint market towns to the
rolling countryside, this county is one of the many jewels in Great
Britain’s crown.”
The Yorkshire Post acknowledges that the prime minister was not likely to be aware that this was happening in his name – but refused to run his article.
The paper was also angered because it had sent a number of questions
to the PM to answer in the wake of the floods that hit the region, but
six weeks later had yet to receive a response.
The newspaper, which backed five more years of a Tory-Lib Dem coalition ahead of last year’s general election, has received widespread support on Twitter for refusing to run the article.”
East Devon Watch 
How stupid can Downing Street get? (That’s a rhetorical question BTW – I think this article amply demonstrates the answer).
It happens that in this case the newspaper’s worked it out before-hand, but even if they hadn’t it would have become obvious once the letters had been published.
IMO it was stupid enough for Downing Street to send out the letters promoting tourism to regional newspapers – after all how many tourists from e.g. the far east would read e.g the Yorkshire Post. But putting them out in DC’s name and calling it “very personal” is IMO an invitation for DC to switch to the “Standing at the Back Dressed Stupidly and Looking Stupid Party” (with credit to Ben Elton for the idea).
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