Gordon in the morning: The Sun is a very different place

The Sun just can't help itself, can it? Yesterday, it ran shoddy long-lens photos of Stacey Solomon smoking (apparently this is in the public interest because she's pregnant, and as we all know, once you've conceived your uterus instantly becomes property of the commonwealth; besides, she was on telly singing, right?)

And having had the public beheading, today Smart's column puts the head on a pole and makes it talk, with Solomon forced to beg for forgiveness:

"Every puff is sneaky and guilty and I know I'm doing something bad.

"Seeing the pictures put it into perspective about how awful it looks and was the spur to seek the help I need.[...]
"And thank you to The Sun from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to write this piece."

In case it just looks like bullying, here's a medical opinion:

By CAROL COOPER, Sun Doctor
UNBORN babies whose mums smoke get less oxygen and less nourishment because the placenta does not work as well.

And every time the mum takes a puff, the baby's heartbeat surges.

Smokers are also more likely to go into early labour. Stacey really should quit.

You know what will really help with that? How about sneaking about shoving cameras in her face, running pieces denouncing her in the papers, and then simpering the obvious but simplistic "Stacey should stop" without any balancing thoughts about why it might be difficult to stop an addiction, especially when you have the added stress of men with massive cameras trying to get photos of "your bump" every time you step outdoors.

Smoking while pregnant isn't a good thing to do. But neither are show trials.