It has been brought to my attention that the Labour Party is using a Northern Echo front page as part of its campaign in the Darlington constituency.

The front page shows a picture of David Cameron alongside the headline "North-East faces big squeeze."

The page was published after the Tory leader was interviewed on Newsnight by Jeremy Paxman and was questioned about which areas of the country would be targeted for public sector cuts.

Mr Cameron named the North-East of England and Northern Ireland as areas which were too heavily dependent on the public sector.

I stand by the front page as a reasonable interpretation of Mr Cameron's answer to the question.

The Tories disagree with the interpretation, to the extent that they tried to get the front page changed, and Mr Cameron has since given reassurances that the North-East will not be targeted (see today's paper).

However, I wish to make it clear that The Northern Echo was not consulted about the use of the front page on a postcard supporting Jenny Chapman as the Labour candidate for Darlington. Had I been asked for permission to use it as part of the campaign, I would, of course, have said no.

The Northern Echo, unlike national papers like The Sun and Daily Mirror, is politically independent and has worked hard to be fair to all parties throughout the campaign.

I don't suppose more recent front pages from The Northern Echo - one headlined "Gordon's gaffe" and the other headlined "Cameron heaps misery on Brown" - will be making it onto a Labour Party postcard.