British media is giving distorted account of war, claims Blunkett

David Blunkett used a trip to New York to voice distrust of British reporters in Iraq, implying that they were giving too much coverage to the Iraqi forces and treating them as if they were "moral equivalents" of coalition troops.

The Home Secretary, who went to New York on Tuesday to discuss anti-terrorism and public security measures with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, suggested that the picture given to the British public had been, on occasions, distorted.

"For the first time ever in our history we not only have thousands – literally thousands – of journalists travelling with the troops," he told police cadets at John Jay College. "But we have broadcast media behind what I would describe as enemy lines, reporting blow-by-blow."

His comments reflected anxiety in London that some of the media coverage is undermining public support for the war. Similar views are held by some officials in Washington.

Mr Blunkett also lambasted the al-Jazeera Arab-language news channel based in Qatar, saying its reporters were "actually linked into – and ... are provided with facilities and support from – the regime".

He did so knowing he has a receptive audience: many US commentators have decried al-Jazeera for giving too much credence to the Iraqi leadership. But his timing was unfortunate. Al-Jazeera said on Wednesday it was closing its Baghdad operation after the Ministry of Information banned two of its correspondents.

Mr Blunkett also implied that some members of the media suffered from a "liberal bent" that compelled them to give equal weight to both sides. "We have it reported certainly in our own media in the United Kingdom on occasions as though they were moral equivalents," he remarked.