Lazy reporters won't let the truth get in the way of a good story

BRIGHTON LETTER:The BBC's decision to ask the British leader a question about his mental health has provoked fury

IMAGINE THE scene: an Englishman sits in the early September sun on the terrace of his holiday home in the south of France, furious about the decline of England, MPs’ expenses and the fall in sterling’s value.

He then posts an allegation on his little-known blog, describing prime minister Brown as “a fool and a liar” and a one-eyed man. “He is, therefore, a one-eyed trouser snake,” he writes.

Now in full flow, the blogger, 61-year-old ex-advertising executive, John Ward, goes on to allege that Brown is taking antidepressants, based entirely on his belief that the PM no longer drinks Chianti or eats cheese.

The dietary information, he claims, was passed on to him by an unnamed, tipsy senior civil servant, and Ward claims that it is the talk of Whitehall, and that “they” will not tell the British people what is going on.

And it was backed up, he claims, by a senior Treasury official. All of which supported allegations first made to him three years ago, he says, by a Conservative MP.

Not a scintilla of evidence exists to back up the charge that Brown is being treated for depression. There is no evidence that he has changed his diet, or, indeed, that he ever liked Chianti.

Nor has Ward given any evidence that he meets regularly, or at all, with senior Whitehall civil servants, be they in the UK, or sitting by a pool in France.

Ward's charge was picked up by an internet publication, firstpost.co.uk, and then by Daily Telegraphand London Independentjournalists, who, again without any proof, claimed that, Whitehall was "awash with rumours" about Brown's physical and mental health.

Subsequently, it was circulated by right-wing bloggers, who have learnt much from the way the blogosphere has developed in the US as a source of pernicious bile.

Up to then, however, it had not come onto the full public radar, and it might have remained as an injurious slur until the BBC’s Andrew Marr followed it up on his TV programme last Sunday.

The early-morning programme does not have a big audience, but it plays a crucial role in setting the UK news agenda.

Marr did not use the word “antidepressants”. Instead, he asked Mr Brown: “A lot of people in this country use prescription painkillers and pills to help them get through. Are you one of them?”

His decision to do so has provoked fury. So far, number 10 Downing Street has not lodged a formal complaint, but Peter Mandelson and former Labour leader Neil Kinnock criticised it, with Kinnock saying the BBC had behaved like a “red-top” tabloid.

In Brighton this week, Marr was roundly abused by Labour minister, Ian Austin, and left-wing MP, Jon Cruddas, on the margins of the Labour Party conference.

Marr, it emerged, had done no research before asking the question, thus ensuring that, notwithstanding Brown’s denials, many in the UK now believe he is being treated for depression.

Nor had he cleared the question with BBC chiefs before asking it. So far, they seem relieved that Brown has not lodged a formal complaint, but many of its staff are clearly unhappy at Marr’s action.

Now, however, it must decide how it handles an interview with Conservative leader, David Cameron, when he appears on Marr’s programme this Sunday – with reports that it intends to give him a grilling to, as it were, even the score.

Ward now says that he was “gobsmacked” that Marr put the question to Brown and claims he has done a public service in getting “matters to a stage where the story is out in the public domain”.

Now, the members of the Westminster press corps are far from being shrinking violets, and are well capable of laying into a reputation over a few quiet pints, even if they would not do the same in print or in broadcasts.

Even privately, however, no-one has put forward anything to stand up Ward’s allegations.

The health of political leaders is a subject of public interest. In the US, candidates for major political office – including the White House – are required to disclose their medical histories.

Indeed, too little information about politicians’ health is released in the UK, or in Ireland, but there is a world of difference between asking something privately and then deciding whether to publish it or not, and doing so on live television.

The equivalent in Ireland to Marr's question is Ryan Tubridy's question to Brian Cowen about alcohol on T he Late Late Show, but it differs in that Cowen had spoken about it the week before to the Sunday Independent.

Earlier this year, The Irish Times reported that Cowen has sleep apnea, a condition that denies sufferers deep sleep, but which can be resolved using a simple-to-use device.

Unlike Marr, this newspaper had multiple first-hand sources for the story. I know, because I wrote it. While Mr Cowen was not keen on it, it helped to explain much about his tired appearance. And it passed the first test of journalism: it was true.