More popular than Jesus in all of us." Adamant that he was not comparing himself with Christ, he tried to explain the decline of Christianity in the UK. Pressed for an apology by a reporter, he said: "if you want me to apologise, if that will make you happy, then OK, I'm sorry." Journalists gave a sympathetic response, and told Lennon that the Bible Belt were "quite notorious for their Christian attitude". When the tour began, it was marred by protests and disturbances. Telephone threats were received, and concerts were picketed by the Ku Klux Klan. "Daily Express" writer Robert Pitman, responding to the
Evening Standard two months to 12 April were published as news stories in the paper, "reproducing headlines from the news release virtually verbatim", according to the study. On 14 December 2004, Associated Newspapers launched a Monday–Friday freesheet edition of the "Evening Standard" called "Standard Lite" to help boost circulation. This had 48 pages, compared with about 80 in the main paper, which also had a supplement on most days. In August 2006, the freesheet was relaunched as "London Lite". It was designed to be especially attractive to younger female readers and featured a wide range of lifestyle articles, but less news and