Observations on spin

The Queen Mum/Black Rod scandal (which sadly wasn't as sexy or shocking as this shorthand makes it sound) has provided journalists with plenty more excuses to bash our politicians for "spin". What they have not yet revealed, however, is that, beyond the shadowy world of Alastair Campbell and Jo Moore, there exists another, harder species of spin- doctor. These men and women, whose faces are unknown to the public, work for some of Britain's best-loved celebrities.

For example, sweet Lulu, the Glasgow girl made good, might seem the very antithesis of nasty spin, yet her team appears to have employed tactics that no politician would dare use. The release of her album of duets, Together, is a make-or-break career moment for her. Her sales flagged in the 1990s, despite her collaboration with Take That - so Lulu's promotional team has pulled out all the stops. She was pictured around town (including at the Beckhams' house party) with a gorgeous 21-year-old actor-turned-model called Stuart Manning.

Her PR people whispered to various tabloid sources - including the Daily Mirror's 3am girls - that the couple were an item. Lulu boasted that she looked so young because of all the "great sex" she was getting, and the column inches began to pile up. Her album received coverage that would cost a fortune.

But now the 3am girls and many others believe that the whole relationship was a PR stunt. Stuart Manning, just weeks after he was first linked to Lulu, is being pictured with girls his own age, and - now that both his and Lulu's profile has been raised - the "relationship" is quickly being forgotten.

It happens all the time. Remember the "romance" between Geri Halliwell and Chris Evans, timed to coincide with the release of her first solo album? That, too, was quickly cast aside once the "publicity window" had passed, and Evans was married to somebody else within a year. Is it a coincidence that PR for both "stars" is handled by Matthew Freud? Halliwell's forthcoming book is widely expected to reveal that the relationship was "a sham"; in the meantime, she discreetly avoids interview questions on the matter.

It is rumoured in media circles that the recent "scandal" involving Angus Deayton was also "managed" by his PR rep - none other than Matthew Freud, again. It is believed that, in exchange for Deayton speaking to the News of the World the week after the story broke, the paper agreed to leave out some of the more sordid details - and to describe him as "a great lover" who could "keep going all night". Freud and the News of the World editor, Rebekah Wade, are friends, and Freud's father-in-law, Rupert Murdoch, owns the paper. The links between the worlds of PR and journalism would be slammed as "spin city" if journalists weren't so hungry for the next morsel of gossip.

Critics say that Tony Blair should simply abandon the tactics of "news management" and spin, and then cynicism about news coverage will fade. But cutting off one branch does not kill a tree - we live in a culture dizzy with spin.

Blair is only playing the same game as everybody else.

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