28th November

The Telegraph was the first paper to break the news that Michael Grade was quitting the BBC to join ITV as its new chief executive.

“The BBC’s chairman, Michael Grade, has sensationally switched-over to become executive chairman of ITV.

His resignation from the BBC, revealed by the Telegraph yesterday, is effective immediately, enabling him to take control swiftly at the corporation’s biggest terrestrial competitor.
ITV has been searching for a new boss since Charles Allen departed in August.

Grade’s defection will stun colleagues and cause mayhem inside the BBC, which is in the final stages of licence-fee negotiations with the Government. It will also shock the City, where bookmakers had not bothered even to include Grade on their lists of runners and riders for the ITV job.

A story that is featured across all the papers.

Dismay at BBC as Grade is revealed as new ITV chief

Is the headline in the Guardian which says

“The news was last night greeted with dismay by BBC insiders, who said they only recently learned of the coup, executed in secret over a period of weeks by the ITV board and its headhunters, and were "shocked" at the timing.”

In the Telegraph’s leader it is seen a coup for ITV.

“For ITV it has pulled off a coup on several fronts. It has poached one of the two most senior figures at its main rival. This would have been destabilising at any time but with the BBC's funding settlement due any week, the news could not have come at a worse time for the Corporation.

ITV also gets a businessman who understands broadcasting and, crucially, understands programming. In his time his channels have brought us The Professionals and the South Bank Show at LWT, EastEnders at BBC1, and Friends and ER at Channel 4. He has proved willing to cut long running but terminal shows, including the 1985 axing of a lame and limping Doctor Who, paving the way for the Doctor's recent successful reincarnation.

The Litvinenko story is still heavily featured not least by the Mirror which has an exclusive

“THE Mirror's Graham Brough is one of four people being tested for the radioactive poison that killed Alexander Litvinenko. He is at risk after meeting a contact of the Russian.

I joined the UK's most exclusive and undesirable club yesterday - those who may have been contaminated by the radioactive poison that killed ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko.”

Meanwhile the Guardian reports that

Detectives have found traces of polonium 210 at the London offices of the exiled Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, it was revealed last night. Officers were searching 7 Down Street, Mayfair, after the discovery of the radioactive substance that killed Mr Berezovsky's friend and former employee, Alexander Litvinenko.

A uniformed officer and at least one plain clothes policeman were stationed inside the lobby of the property last night. Outside another 15 officers were on standby in two marked police vans and the area was cordoned off.

The Times leads with the headline

Abortions should be made easier on demand, says charity

Laws that require two doctors to approve an abortion should be dropped to allow women complete control over their family planning, a leading pregnancy advice charity said yesterday.

The Indy meanwhile headlines

Slaughter in Iraq soon seems to be part of normal life

Featuring a special report by Patrick Cockburn

Iraq is rending itself apart. The signs of collapse are everywhere. In Baghdad, the police often pick up more than 100 tortured and mutilated bodies in a single day. Government ministries make war on each other.

On the same subject the Times reports on a speech given by the Defence Secretary last night.
British troops may stay in Iraq until 2016

Speaking at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Mr Browne said that he expected to withdraw a substantial number of the 7,200 British Armed Forces in southern Iraq by the end of next year.

The Guardian features a special report from Afghanistan where

“Five years ago, when the US and the British arrived in Afghanistan, they sold their mission to us not simply as a way of driving out the terrorist-shielding Taliban, but also as a way of empowering women. As Cherie Blair said in November 2001: "We need to help Afghan women free their spirit and give them their voice back, so they can create the better Afghanistan we all want to see." Or as George Bush boasted in December 2001: "Women now come out of their homes from house arrest."

But it appears that little has changed

“Five years on, however, the Blairs and the Bushes have become less vocal about the women whom we were meant to have liberated. Bush has not commented on the fact that the majority of girls in Afghanistan still cannot go to school. When Tony Blair visited Kabul earlier this month, he did not comment on the recent report by one charity, Womankind Worldwide, which stated: "It cannot be said that the status of Afghan women has changed significantly in the last five years."

The Indy reports on the latest opinion polls which show

Labour opens up a two-point gap over Tories

“The turnaround will be seen as a response to the Government's decision to put terrorism and crime at the heart of its agenda and to portray the Tories as "soft" on security issues. It appears that Labour's tough stance has played particularly well among men, who have swung back to the party. “


Amongst the redtops the Sun has exclusive pictures of Rose West

MASS murderer Rose West gorges on hundreds of pounds worth of chocolates in jail — bought with cash sent to her by WELL-WISHERS.

Ghoulish members of the public regularly mail cheques and postal orders to her so she can indulge herself with luxuries.

West — caged for life for the sadistic sex murders of ten women — fritters up to £100 at a time on boxed chocs including Black Magic, plus Creme Eggs and Milky Bar mini eggs.
Complete with the first photo’s of her in eleven years.

The Mirror meanwhile leads with the story of the Asbros
“TWO young brothers who terrorised their street for years were yesterday ordered: "Behave or you will be locked away."
Ricky and Daniel Oakley, branded as "demon children straight from hell", were each given two-year Asbos.
These demand the boys, aged 11 and 12, behave or face five years' detention.”