Campbell was delighted with the coverage in regional newspapers last week after a briefing given by Blair and David Blunkett the Education

Campbell was delighted with the coverage in regional newspapers last week after a briefing given by Blair and David Blunkett, the Education Secretary, on the New Deal."People believe what they read in their regional newspapers more than what they read in the national press," a Downing Street insider insisted yesterday. But he is furious about the "Concorde" stories, complaining of little press attention to key elements of the Government's programme once there is no political controversy, citing the national minimum wage, the New Deal programme for the jobless, and the working families tax credit.So Downing Street has urged ministers to promote such activities in new ways. Its "Black Christmas" of resignations was followed by a spate of stories about the allegedly lavish lifestyle of ministers such as Jack Cunningham, the Cabinet's enforcer, who took trips on Concorde. Campbell does not deny that the Mandelson affair was a "real story". This drowned out the Government's message on other issues, and Blair resolved to appeal "over the heads" of the press to the people.But the Government's attempts to regain the initiative were shortlived.

Downing Street spinmeisters were worried that the broadsheet newspapers were following the so-called "tabloid agenda" set when The Sun branded Oskar Lafontaine, the German Finance Minister, "the most dangerous man in Europe".Alastair Campbell, Blair's influential and trusted press secretary, told colleagues that this was an example of Westminster-based journalists coalescing around a "centre of gravity", which he says they do during any running story. Downing Street's Strategic Communications Unit now has three full-time staff dedicated to these two areas. There will be Commons statements by ministers in an attempt to reach the audiences who watch live TV and radio programmes, without the "filter" of the national press.The seeds of the new strategy were planted in December when Blair was frustrated that newspapers were dominated by rows over Germany's demands for tax harmonisation in the EU. And sometimes you can do that in better ways than just the traditional ways."For example, ministers have been advised to make greater use of women's magazines and journals aimed at the ethnic minorities. I do think it is a good idea for people in my position to try and communicate with people directly and to try and talk about things that really interest people in terms of policies and programmes of the Government.

There was a certain irony in Blair's hour-long appearance on "tabloid TV" the day after Downing Street criticised the "dumbed down" national newspapers for focusing on "trivia, ministers' travel expenses, comment and soap opera". Asked on Richard and Judy if his decision to take part in the programme was to bypass the "spin" that papers put on what he said, Blair replied: "It is not a question of bypassing the newspapers because we deal through the newspapers the whole time. But there's a good piece in Cosmopolitan about it!" The jokes over, the Downing Street man went on to explain that press reports of Blair adopting a new media strategy to combat a Fleet Street obsessed with trivia were rather overblown. As he spoke, however, the Prime Minister was giving some credence to the theory by appearing on ITV's Richard and Judy Show. WHEN THE Independent asked Downing Street yesterday for an interview with Tony Blair about his plans to bypass Fleet Street in order to get his message over to the public, one wag at Number 10 quipped: "I think we will bypass you on this one. With my second, I had more confidence and was very late introducing her to solids. The difference in health between my first and second has been noticeable."MILK FACTSFormula milkIn the trial milk which resulted in higher IQ, the enriched ingredients were protein, fat, maltodextrin, sodium, energy, potassium, chloride, calcium, phosphorus, copper, zinc, vitamins D, E, K, B1, B2, B6, B12, and C, niacin, iodine, folic acid, pantothenic acid, biotin, choline, and taurineBreast milkThis has naturally occurring compounds which affected the immune system and health of the baby including:Fatty Acids which destroy viruses like chicken pox;Hormones that help the baby's digestive tract to mature much faster;Lysozyme that kills off bacteria;T-lymphocytes that kill infected cells and boost the immune system;Interferon that kills viruses;Macrophages which kill microbes in the gut;Lactoferrin that ties up iron production so it cannot be used by bacteria to grow;Feeding babies with breast milk is also associated with lower rates of bacterial meningitis, insulin dependent diabetes, colitis, botulism, ear infections, necrotising enterocolitis, diarrhoea and respiratory tract infections. I consciously decided to stop early with my first child, and I think that was social pressure.

For Anabel Hands, who lives in Ascot, there was never any doubt that she would breast-feed her children: "I was aware of the research about the benefits," she says, "and so all three of my children have been breast-fed. My seven-year-old is way ahead in her class, with a reading age of about 11. The speech of my second, at two-and-a-half, is stunning, while my third is a very alert baby."It's not only intelligence that is affected; they are healthier too. The Canadian position is that the evidence for doing so is not there," he says."In Europe, it is a hotly debated issue, and some people feel very strongly that it should be added. It is therefore very difficult to give mothers advice at the moment, when the debate is still going on."An added twist in the debate is that in his research, LCPUFAs were not added to either of the two formula foods used, yet a big difference in development was still observed.Meanwhile, mothers are making up their own minds. Research by a team at the University of Dundee found that infants fed on food enriched with LCPUFAs achieved better scores in problem-solving at the age of 10 months than babies reared on traditional formula food.LCPUFAs are also found in breast milk, but work at the San Paolo Hospital in Italy, reported in The Lancet, found that the concentration of DHA dropped significantly in the breast milk of mothers who smoked.Prof Lucas says that although there is increasing awareness that good early nutrition is beneficial for neural development, the jury is still out on whether or not LCPUFAs should be used to supplement formula food."In Canada, the authorities are beginning to promote breast-feeding on the grounds that it may well promote cognitive development, but both they and the American authorities support not adding long-chain lipids as a food supplement.