BBC terminology

The BBC report Peter Mandelson's "attack" on The Sun newspaper and include this phrase "The Tory-supporting paper...". It's odd but when The Sun was a supporter of first the Tony Blair and then the Gordon Brown led Labour party I don't remember the BBC describing the newspaper as "The labour-supporting paper". Why not? Why the sudden change now?

The BBC go on to report Peter Mandelson's accusations thus:

"Let's understand what's going on here. The Sun's owner, News International, has made a decision to support the Conservative Party...

"They've effectively formed a contract, over the head, incidentally, of the newspaper's editor and their readers, in which they are sort of bound to one another.

"What the Sun can do for the Conservatives during the election is one part of of the contract and, presumably, what the Conservatives can do for News International when they are elected is the other side of the bargain.

"Now, I'm not so much worried about this, because it's plain to see and, frankly, they are welcome to each other and the public will be the judge.

"But there is a wider question. When the Sun creates the news in this way, this is then followed up by Sky News, which then puts pressure on the BBC to follow suit.

"I think this has wide implications for the election, which I think is of wider public concern."

Once again does anyone remember Peter Mandelson getting quite so outraged by The Sun's support for the Labour party at the 1997, 2001, 2001 and 2005 elections? Did Peter Mandelson ever wonder aloud what Labour would have to do for News International as part of that bargain? Did Peter Mandelson ever concern himself with the prospect of The Sun making anti-Conservative news in the past and the effect this would have on Sky News and the BBC?

To paraphrase Shakespeare's Hamlet "The lord doth protest too much, methinks"