The tang of vengeance is in the air now this love affair has ended

New Labour and the Murdoch empire is a love affair that has now come to an abrupt and bitter end. All that is left is revenge, recrimination and the question: "Why did you leave me this way?"

The Government's decision to take the Ashes outside the remit of pay TV is a calculated blow to one of Mr Murdoch's crown jewels in the UK, Sky Sports.

Coming after the Sun's decision to back David Cameron, made more painful for Labour by being announced on the day after Gordon Brown's conference speech, the move confirms deep anger at the heart of the Government over the shift by the Sun and what it signifies.

Peter Mandelson, who has traditionally enjoyed good relations with the Murdoch family, has led the fightback, warning this week of a "contract" between News International and the Tories that would impact adversely on the BBC. The Government is now effectively backing the BBC in battles against the commercial broadcaster. The tang of vengeance is in the air.

The Ashes is a carefully chosen weapon. Fans will be delighted to see the contest return to free-to-air.

It is not so much the decision by The Sun to switch support to Mr Cameron that irked the Brown-Mandelson axis as the manner in which it was done.

Mr Mandelson is said to have sworn choicely at Rebekah Brooks, the new News International CEO, when he heard of the Sun's attack on Mr Brown just as the New Labour inner circle were basking in the afterglow of the conference speech. Mr Mandelson says he used the word "chumps", others remember it differently.

In its heart of hearts, Labour knew it would be hard to keep support in a newspaper group that is instinctively Right of centre, not least in the wake of a financial crisis when Mr Brown's economic management would come under scrutiny.

What it was anxious to avoid is the all-out, personal hostility doled out by the Sun when it attacked Neil Kinnock in the 1992 election campaign.

In particular, the Sun's attack on Mr Brown over his letter to Jacqui Janes, the mother of a young soldier killed in Afghanistan, raised Labour hackles. The paper gave the PM no benefit of the doubt for his poor eyesight or good intentions and Mr Brown has called Rupert Murdoch personally to complain at the coverage.

Murdoch has genuine regard for a man whose grasp of global affairs he admires and was, no doubt, courteous. But this is an affair that has had its day.

Both sides know that hence Labour's aggressive response today. The bitterness will last to the general election and beyond.