The minister arrived too late for the gathering of dignitaries at Tameside General Hospital in July but agreed to be photographed alone on the site of new building works.

Last week local newspapers were issued with a picture which showed Mr Purnell standing alongside his Labour colleagues, who had already left the hospital by the time that the minister’s photograph was taken

Hospital bosses insisted that Mr Purnell had agreed to the idea of merging the pictures. But his aides say he interpreted “merging” as meaning two separate pictures would run alongside each other.

But the row deepened last night following the intervention of two Labour MPs who were in the photograph.

Tom Levitt, the MP for High Peak, said that the idea of merging the images “was raised as a possibility” on the day. He also said that the group posed so “as to leave a space for James”.

His party colleague David Heyes also recalled the manipulation of the photograph being discussed and said that he and the rest of the party had posed for several photographs, each with a gap for Mr Purnell.

“I remember we did one on the stairs and that also had a space for James.”

Mr Levitt said that Mr Purnell had not been present when the discussion took place and he himself had left before the minister arrived.

He also admitted that he had put the doctored photograph on his own website and had failed to point out that it had been faked. He only decided to add an explanation after the row broke.

The incident is a major embarrassment for Mr Purnell, who has been highly critical of television channels which have cheated the public.

Only two weeks ago Mr Purnell delivered a keynote speech in which he censured the BBC and other leading broadcasters for jeopardising public trust over fixed phone-in competitions, which have resulted in fines of £50,000 for the corporation and £2 million for GMTV.

In his speech Mr Purnell said: “In both politics and television you devalue the only currency you have if you forfeit the trust of the public.

“I’m glad to see that there is a widespread recognition that something has seriously gone wrong and that it needs to be put right.”

Jeremy Hunt, the Tory culture spokesman, said: “This demonstrates that spin is at the heart of Labour, and it blows a hole in Gordon Brown’s claims of spin-free government.”

Mr Hunt said that the critical question was why Mr Purnell had posed in “precisely the position that would allow it to be digitally inserted into the other photograph, if he had no idea it would be used in such a way”.

He described Mr Purnell’s position as “totally untenable”, saying: “His credibility is damaged, and this is at a time when the whole of broadcasting is in a crisis of trust and requires leadership to get us out of it.”

Mr Hunt added: “He told broadcasters that they had to get their house in order and win the respect of viewers. The only way that crisis can be solved is via a voluntary code for broadcasters who would agree what is acceptable. The question is how can he take charge of a crisis like that?”

From:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/30/npurnell130.xml

Health Direct notes that as Mr Purnell who works in the Culture, Media and Sport Ministry said “In both politics and television you devalue the only currency you have if you forfeit the trust of the public” he joins the sorry long list of Labour politicians who have deceived the public.