A remarkable picture of the way Tony Blair has lost the faith of British voters over his 10 years in power is revealed today by a comprehensive study of public attitudes towards the Prime Minister.
As Blair prepares to leave office, the poll of more than 2,000 adults shows that people believe the country is a more dangerous, less happy, less pleasant place to live. There was a negative response to nearly all of more than 40 questions the public was asked about trust in politics, how they felt about their own lives and whether public services had got better.
The paper continues
The poll, carried out for The Observer for a special supplement on his decade in power, will increase concerns among Labour's high command that the party is facing electoral defeat in the crucial national elections in Scotland and Wales and the local elections in England next month. It could also mean that Gordon Brown, if he wins the subsequent leadership election, will be handed an almost impossible political legacy to deal with.
The poll reveals that almost half of voters consider the outgoing Prime Minister as out of touch, untrustworthy and overly concerned with spin, while 57 per cent think he has stayed in office too long. And despite the billions of pounds poured into health care, more than half rate the government's performance on the NHS as poor or very poor in a sign that even Labour's traditional strengths are becoming dangerously eroded.
More bad news for the party on the front of the Telegraph
Reid will back Miliband for PM to block Brown
John Reid, the Home Secretary, will back a Labour leadership challenge by David Miliband in order to stop Gordon Brown taking over, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt.If Mr Miliband does not stand, Mr Reid is even prepared to fight the Chancellor himself as a "last resort", friends have disclosed.
The revelations are a huge setback for Mr Brown's hopes of taking over from Tony Blair, almost certainly at the end of June, as smoothly as possible.
They also offer the starkest evidence of the seriousness of the split between the Chancellor and Cabinet ministers who want to preserve the Prime Minister's political legacy.
The legacy of the Iranian crisis continues to dominate the Headlines
Fury as the hostages sell stories is the lead in the Sunday Times
The 15 British military captives who were released by the Iranians have been authorised by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to sell their stories.
MoD officials claimed that the move to lift the ban on military personnel selling their stories while in service was justified because of the “exceptional circumstances” of the case. The hostages are expected to earn as much as £250,000 between them.
The story of Faye Turney, 26, the only female among them, is expected to be the most lucrative. She could profit by as much as £150,000 from a joint deal with a newspaper and ITV.
Looking back at the week's events,the Independent says
Pawns in a losing game: Britain's policy in tatters
Fifteen British hostages are freed, at cost unknown. Meanwhile, six soldiers pay with their lives in Basra. Raymond Whitaker, Anne Penketh and Angus McDowall ask: just what are our soldiers dying for?
If anything symbolised the degree to which Tony Blair's adventurous foreign policy has embroiled Britain in dangerous, unpredictable conflicts and wholly unintended consequences, it was the juxtaposition of joy and horror last Thursday.
The television news channels ran endless footage of 15 sailors and Royal Marines, freed by Iran after a two-week hostage saga that had taken almost daily twists and turns. But scrolling across the bottom of the screens was the news that four other service personnel, two of them women, and an Iraqi interpreter had been killed by an explosion in southern Iraq, the worst British loss of life in a single incident there for several months. A fifth soldier remains in a critical condition.
According to the Telegraph
Five more years in Iraq, say defence papers
A confidential planning document drawn up by defence chiefs called the Operational Tour Plot, parts of which have been disclosed to this newspaper, reveals that troops will be serving on operations in the Gulf until at least 2012.
News of the future operations can be revealed just three days after four soldiers, two of them women, were killed in a carefully planned ambush in Basra, taking the British forces death toll in Iraq to 140.
Iran negotiator: 'Iraq war was a mistake' reports the Mail
Tony Blair faced a new revolt over Iraq after it was revealed that the foreign policy aide who secured the release of the 15 sailors captured by Iran opposed the war from the start.
Senior diplomatic sources say Sir Nigel Sheinwald, who is due to take over as Britain's ambassador in Washington in the next few weeks, believed the attack on Iraq was a 'misjudgment'.
The disclosure is a major embarrassment for the Premier and Sir Nigel and marks a growing Foreign Office revolt over Mr Blair's conduct in Iraq as his departure looms.
Buoyant Teheran warns of further kidnappings reports the Telegraph
The bullish reaction from Teheran will reinforce the fears of western diplomats and military officials that more kidnap attempts may be planned.
The British handling of the crisis has been regarded with some concern in Washington, and a Pentagon defence official told The Sunday Telegraph: "The fear now is that this could be the first of many. If the Brits don't change their rules of engagement, the Iranians could take more hostages almost at will.
"Iran has come out of this looking reasonable. If I were the Iranians, I would keep playing the same game. They have very successfully muddied the waters and bought themselves some more time. And in parts of the Middle East they will be seen as the good guys. They could do it time and again if they wanted to."
OUR FINEST says the Express
THEY were brave, in the bloom of youth and doing jobs they loved. And yesterday the women soldiers murdered by a roadside bomb in Iraq were proudly remembered by their grieving families.
The devastated mother of teenage nurse Eleanor Dlugosz told how her daughter knew her life was at risk but was determined to help innocent victims of the conflict.Meanwhile, the sister of Second Lieutenant Joanna Dyer, who died alongside Eleanor when their Warrior armoured vehicle was blown up in Basra, faces a harrowing ordeal.
The Independent leads with a different subject
The coast is clear: Britons get historic right of way
Ministers are to open up the entire English coastline to the public in a historic and controversial extension of the "right to roam".
The move, which will make it possible to walk all 9,040 miles around the coast of Great Britain and create the first ever right of access to thousands of beaches, is provoking a bitter backlash from landowners and celebrities with expensive seaside properties, who will not be compensated.
It will also boost the profile of the fast-rising Secretary of State for the Environment, David Miliband, whose decision to push through the measure will win him new friends among Labour traditionalists, since access to the countryside is one of their most totemic issues.
Until now, the public has only had a right of access to about half of the country's coastline, mainly along paths, and - despite a popular misconception - none at all to most beaches. People are legally entitled to travel by boat over the foreshore when the tide is in, but not to walk on it when the waters recede.
Although perhaps we do really care as the Telegraph reports
Britons hit beaches as tide turns for resorts
Now, however, the tide is turning for Skegness and a host of Britain's seaside resorts. With temperatures over the Easter bank holiday exceeding those of many European destinations, seaside towns are expecting a record number of visitors. On Good Friday, thousands of families made for the beach as temperatures along the south coast rose to 68F (20C). In Brighton, crowds thronged the sand where a beach volleyball tournament was held. In Bournemouth, more than 3,000 deckchairs and 1,000 sun loungers were hired out.
In Devon, tourism bosses predicted a quarter of a million visitors would be staying in the county over Easter with a further million taking day trips to the region.
HOME SELLER PACK CHAOS says the Mail
The Government's new property sales pack scheme is heading for crisis - with potentially momentous consequences for the housing market.
From June 1, homesellers will be legally obliged to supply buyers with a property information pack, to include a newly devised energy-performance certificate awarded by a new army of inspectors.
But The Mail on Sunday has learned that so far only 1,000 of the inspectors have been trained - out of a target of 7,500.
UK FACES £459BN HOUSING CRASH as the Express brings more doom and gloom to houseowners
THE BUBBLE is about to burst on Britain’s booming property market. Experts fear a crash is coming that could wipe at least £450billion off the value of the country’s housing stock.
The far-reaching consequences would include a spate of bankruptcies and repossessions as home owners, mortgaged to the hilt, suddenly found their biggest asset falling in value.
The shooting of a pregnant women on Good Friday continues to feature.The Telegraph reports
Police study CCTV in pregnant woman murder
As the first photograph of Krystal Hart was released, officers hoped the CCTV film would provide clues that would lead to her murderer. Miss Hart, described by friends as "bubbly and kind", was killed in her home in south-west London on Friday. The former secretary had installed surveillance cameras at her flat after arguments with her downstairs neighbour, Angela Brewer, over noise and parking spaces.
Police are looking for a white male suspect, who was believed to be known to Miss Brewer, and who burst into Miss Hart's flat apparently after a row with her boyfriend outside the two-storey house in Belleville Road, Battersea. As forensic scientists scoured the flat, friends and relatives placed flowers outside.
As does the stabbing of a 13 year old in London as the Observer reports
Two arrested over fatal knife attack
A 13-year-old boy and a 19-year-old man were arrested yesterday after a double stabbing in east London left one teenager dead and another fighting for his life. Detectives believe a large group of youths was involved in the attack in the foyer of a block of flats in Leytonstone, east London. The attack comes at the end of a week in which the Home Office announced tougher penalties for knife crime.
‘Millions to rebel’ over ID cards as the Times brings more bad news for the government
The government is predicting that some 15m people will revolt against Tony Blair’s controversial ID card scheme by refusing to produce the new cards or provide personal data on demand.
The forecast is made in documents released by the Home Office under the Freedom of Information Act. The papers show ministers expect national protests similar to the poll tax rebellions of the Thatcher era, with millions prepared to risk criminal prosecution.
Opposition MPs said the new documents proved their case that the programme would never work. David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said: “This will cripple the system. Fifteen million is a massive number. What the Home Office is accepting in private, but refuses to accept in public, is that a massive number of ordinary law-abiding citizens simply will not go along with their scheme.”
Across the Red Tops,the News of the World leads with a Corrie exclusive
Under the headline SUICIDAL
CORONATION Street star Craig Charles told the News of the World how he blew nearly £250,000 in a year on a deadly crack cocaine habit that drove him close to SUICIDE.
As the soap actor secretly hurtled towards self-destruction he binged non-stop for THREE DAYS at a time because he dreaded the agonising effects as the drug wore off.
In an exclusive interview Craig, 42, confessed: "I was a complete and utter mess. Crack is the worst thing in the world. "There's such a terrible, terrible crash when you come down. I'd sometimes stay high for three days because I didn't want to go through it."
The Mirror reports on
LIZ'S £2M WEDDING BUST-UP
LIZ Hurley and her new husband Arun Nayar have been disowned by his father in a bitter row over their £2million fairytale wedding.
An extraordinary family feud has broken out between the newlyweds and the groom's dad, Vinod, 66.
An intensely private and proud man, Vinod Nayar has been so upset and angered by Liz and Arun's behaviour towards him and his second wife Joanne, 55, he feels he has no option but to speak out.
Whilst the Express reveals that
SECRET BBC PLOT TO KILL OFF LAST ORIGINAL EASTENDER
EASTENDERS legend Ian Beale is to be killed off next month in a spectacular £1million showdown with arch-enemy Phil Mitchell.
It will be the end of the road for actor Adam Woodyatt – the last member of the cast to have featured in the soap’s first episode – after 22 years and more than 2,000 appearances.His exit, which has already been filmed, sees his long-running feud with Phil end in a stunning, tragic,climax.
The people reports
THE GOODY LIFE
Just as you thought her career was all over, Jade gets a job.. on her OWN fly on the wall series
SHAMED Jade Goody has been offered a huge deal to star in her own TV reality show.
Producers are convinced a fly-on-the-wall documentary on her fiery relationship with toyboy Jack Tweed will be a ratings smash.
The couple's latest row erupted in a trendy club last Thursday when Jade accused Jack of flirting with other girls.
It was just the sort of scene that could keep viewers hooked - and earn Jade a near six-figure sum from a terrestrial TV channel.
Foreign news and the Observer reports that
Rappers mobilise as Le Pen vote surges
French rapper Xiao-Venom Blackara, better known in his quartier as XV, is a busy man this weekend. He has two pressing tasks: organising his first major concert and mobilising his neighbours and friends for the presidential elections in two weeks. That the two events will take place within a few days of each other is no coincidence.
'You have got to vote and you have got to learn about politics. The most dangerous thing in the world is ignorance,' says the rapper, 24, from a rundown area of north-east Paris, says. 'It is about having a say, about making sure our voices are heard.'
Allies desert 'lame duck president' is the Telegraph's headline
David Frum, a former White House speech writer, and Jim Nuzzo, a West Wing aide to Mr Bush's father, have both told The Sunday Telegraph that the president cannot achieve anything more in domestic politics and is now a captive of international events.Mr Nuzzo branded Mr Bush a "lame duck" who had forfeited the support of senior Republicans.They spoke out after a week in which a former member of Mr Bush's inner circle launched a withering description of how the president had "become more secluded and bubbled-in" with a shrinking band of loyalists.
The Times reports on one of the Presidential hopefuls
Darling, they tell me you’re a puppy killer
THE frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, Rudy Giuliani, has warned critics to lay off his wife Judith after a series of revelations about her previous marriages and work for a “puppy-killing” medical supplies company.
“There’s plenty to attack me about. Please do it,” the former New York mayor said last week. “But maybe, you know, show a little decency.” He went on to protest that Judith Giuliani, his third wife, was “a civilian, to use the old mafia distinction”.
This weekend Howard Koeppel, a gay friend who housed Giuliani during the break-up of his second marriage, sprang to Judith’s defence.
“They can’t find anything wrong with Rudy so they’re picking on his wife,” he told The Sunday Times. “It’s evil. She is a very loving, wonderful person.”
Whilst the Independent reports from Afghanistan where
The battle of Sangin: British forces lead fight to recapture key town
British troops have been spearheading an operation to recapture the symbolic town of Sangin in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, where their comrades were engaged in bitter fighting against Taliban forces last year.
A force of more than 1,000 Nato and Afghan troops with helicopters and armour, including the Royal Marines 42 Commando, drove the Taliban out of Sangin late last week, according to Nato's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
"There was very heavy fighting between foreign forces, Afghan forces and Taliban in Sangin two nights ago," a local resident, Haji Akhtar Mohammad, told the Associated Press yesterday.
Finally the same paper reports on the Labour deputy leadership fight
For Hazel's next trick: Bring on the Blearleaders
Let no one accuse Hazel Blears of running an inconspicuous campaign to replace John Prescott in the nation's affections.
After launching her own range of branded street-wear and knick-knacks, Ms Blears is closing in on her next publicity coup - a troupe of cheerleaders.
The Red Hot Flames, who seek to inspire the Salford Reds rugby league team to triumph, may soon be wielding their pompoms outside the House of Commons, according to her spokesman.
The troupe, recent winners of a national cheerleading competition, come courtesy of the club's chairman, an enthusiastic supporter of the cabinet minister.
John Wilkinson, an industrialist who has earned the moniker "Mr Salford" through long association with the city, is bankrolling Ms Blears's bid to become Labour's deputy leader to the tune of £10,000.
"They are friends," says Ms Blears's spokesman. "He thinks it would be good for Salford to have its MP as Labour deputy."
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