A mixed bag of news this morning from the national papers.

The Times leads on

Pupils kept in crumbling classrooms by red tape

Hundreds of thousands of pupils will be taught in dilapidated classrooms because the Government is abandoning its targets for a £45 billion schools rebuilding programme.
The plans, heralded by Gordon Brown in successive budget speeches, have become mired in red tape, forcing the Government to admit that three years after promising to rebuild all 3,500 secondary schools before 2020 not a single project has been completed. It expects to open just 14 of the 100 new schools it had planned to by the end of this year, according to official Department for Education and Skills figures, The Times has learnt.

The Guardian returns to a story that it has been championing

BAE's secret $12m payout in African deal

The UK's biggest arms supplier secretly paid a $12m commission into a Swiss account in a deal which led to Tanzania, one of the world's poorest countries, buying a controversial military radar system.
A Tanzanian middleman, who has a long-standing relationship with military and government figures, has admitted that the sum was covertly moved to a Swiss account by BAE Systems, which is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office.

The Home Office though continues to make news,the same paper reveals that

Civil servant suspended over criminal files blunder

A senior Home Office civil servant has been suspended after "volunteering information" to the internal inquiry investigating the department's failure to log 27,500 criminal records of Britons convicted abroad on to police computers.
A Home Office spokeswoman said yesterday the unnamed official had provided information since Friday that warranted further investigation and raised the possibility of disciplinary action.

The Times saying that

The suspension came as John Reid demanded an overhaul of the way that information on British criminals and foreign offenders is collected and stored within Whitehall and by the police.

The Telegraph reports that

A fresh row over criminal databases broke out last night with the revelation that immigration officials frequently cannot check on the criminal past of European Union citizens entering Britain.
The admission is contained in a letter seen by The Daily Telegraph and written by Joan Ryan, the Home Office minister caught up in the criminal records row.

It though leads with

I am a true Tory, Cameron tells core voters

David Cameron acts today to reassure traditional Conservative voters that he is more the heir to Margaret Thatcher than to Tony Blair.
Against the backdrop of mounting unease among Right-wing, Eurosceptic Tories, he seeks to answer his critics with an impassioned defence of his leadership. The Tory leader — who was once reported to have dubbed himself "heir to Blair" — denies that his revamped party is a clone of New Labour.

Whilst reporting that

Blair should go soon, says Blears

Tony Blair faces new pressure to speed up his departure from Downing Street as Labour's chairman predicts today that a hand-over to Gordon Brown will give the party an immediate "rocket boost".
The comments by Hazel Blears, a Blair loyalist preparing the party for local elections in England and Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly polls on May 4, will be seized on by impatient Labour MPs who want the Prime Minister out well before the summer.

The Indy's front page is dedicated to

Big Brother: What it really means in Britain today

Moves to share people's personal details across Whitehall have provoked a civil liberties uproar and accusations that the Government has taken another step towards "a Big Brother state".
Ministers say the scheme - which will be endorsed by Tony Blair today - is aimed at improving public service delivery. But it faced protests that it was dealing another blow to personal privacy by creating a "snooper's charter" and enabling thousands of civil servants to access sensitive information with ease.

The Sun on the same story says

'Chance to snoop on every Brit'

TONY Blair was accused of Big Brother government yesterday — over plans to log EVERY citizen’s personal details on a giant database.
The scheme — which will give civil servants access to all information held on us — was slammed by the Tories.
Shadow constitutional affairs spokesman Oliver Heald warned: “Step by step, the Government is logging details of every man, woman and child in Big Brother computers.”

Amongst the tabloids,the Mirror's front page announces

SARAH'S KILLER: SHIPMAN HAUNTS MY CELL
EXCLUSIVE SARAH PAYNE KILLER 'HAUNTED BY GHOST OF HAROLD
SHIPMAN'

EVIL Roy Whiting has told prison warders he is too terrified to sleep in his new cell because it is haunted by the ghost of Dr Death Harold Shipman

Paedophile Whiting, 47, who murdered eight-year-old Sarah Payne, claims he is scared witless by eerie noises and "strange goings on.

The Sun meanwhile tells us

Kylie: Too much too soon

KYLIE Minogue fuelled fears that she is pushing herself too hard — after walking off stage because she was so ill.
The pop princess, 38, cut short her gig at Manchester’s MEN Arena after just 45 minutes, telling a shocked 20,000 crowd she had flu.
Friends, family and fans were last night worried she had come back too soon after her battle with breast cancer.

The Mail reports on

Widow horrified as she finds husband's grave is too small for his coffin

at the funeral Mrs Coleman was horrified to discover that in a devastating blunder the grave was too small for her husband's coffin.
She was standing at the graveside with friends and family when almost farcical scenes unfolded.
Six family friends and four funeral firm pall bearers tried repeatedly to lower the solid walnut coffin into the grave without success, at one point nearly standing it up on end.


The appearance of Sylvester Stallone at a premiership game yesterday is covered by many of the papers.The Independent headlines

Escape to a 1-1 draw: Stallone enjoys a day at the soccer

The 60-year-old habitué of Hollywood's red carpets put in an appearance on the green turf of Everton Football Club yesterday to prove his affection for the beautiful game. Such was his enthusiasm after seeing 22 men chasing a ball around Goodison Park for 90 minutes on a chilly January afternoon, Stallone completed a unique double by doing a piece for The Independent about his experience.