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 business news than the main paper. It was initially only available between 11.30 a.m. and 2.30 p.m. at "Evening Standard" vendors and in the central area, but later became available in the evening from its street distributors. With the sale of the "Evening Standard", but not the "London Lite", to Alexander Lebedev on 21 January 2009, the ownership links between the "Standard" and the "Lite" were broken. On Fridays, the newspaper includes a free glossy lifestyle magazine, "ES" (launched as the "Evening Standard Magazine" in 2009), and the circulation was increased to 350,000 in September 2014. This has moved from