Wednesday, January 27, 2010

What Wednesday's papers are saying


The Iraq inquiry and the end of the recession are the main topics for the nationals this morning.

Invade and be damned is the headline in the Independent which says Tony Blair's most senior legal adviser will today be forced to explain why he ignored the advice from more experienced colleagues that the invasion of Iraq had no basis in law.

On one of the most conroversial days of the inquiry so far,the Guardian reports that the inquiry heard damning evidence about how under strong pressure from ministers, notably the then foreign secretary Jack Straw, Goldsmith changed his mind about the legality of the war at the last minute, saying it was lawful after all.

Astonishingly,says the Mail, Downing Street asked lawyers to assess what the consequences would be if Britain toppled Saddam Hussein without legal authority.

Meanwhile both the Telegraph and the Times lead with the economy.The former reports that Britain's economic recovery plans were thrown into turmoil yesterday after official figures showed that the country had limped weakly out of recession.


Whilst the Times says that the tiny 0.1 per cent uplift achieved from October to December — far worse than most City economists expected — threw Labour and Conservative election tactics into confusion.

A detailed and startling analysis of how unequal Britain has become offers a snapshot of an increasingly divided nation where the richest 10% of the population are more than 100 times as wealthy as the poorest 10% of society.reports the Guardian

The damning verdict comes despite the Government throwing billions of pounds at the problem.says the Sun adding that Last night the Tories accused Labour of the biggest betrayal of the poor for 65 years.

Meanwhile the Mail reports that a landmark survey has found that one in ten children is unhappy, and most blame fighting within their family.

The leak yesterday of confidential cables written by America's ambassador in Afghanistan voicing doubts about the wisdom of troop increases and sharply criticising President Hamid Karzai has reignited tensions between Washington and Kabul at a politically sensitive time reports the Independent

Meanwhile the Telegraph reports The Nato's Secretary General has said the London Conference on Afghanistan will be used to raise millions of pounds to pay off the Taliban leadership.

A massive power struggle looms in Sri Lanka says the Times after the Government challenged the legitimacy of the main opposition candidate in yesterday’s presidential election.

Meanwhile the Guardian reports that Barack Obama has admitted mishandling the bitter political debate around healthcare reform and other mistakes that have contributed to diving poll numbers.

According to the Independent,he will use the State of the Union address tonight to vow to stand by his principle domestic priorities, including healthcare reform, while at the same time taking more drastic steps to rein in government spending.

There is more controversy over climate change.The Times has spoken to John Beddington who tells the paper that the impact of global warming has been exaggerated by some scientists and there is an urgent need for more honest disclosure of the uncertainty of predictions about the rate of climate change,

A front page splash for the Sun which claims that t "burglars" who terrorised have-a-go dad Munir Hussain were thugs hired by a jealous man who wrongly thought his wife was having an affair with him,

Whilst the Express leads with the story that thousands of lives are being put at risk because of a controversial decision to save money by refusing patients a new heart disease pill costing just £2 a day,

Finally many of the papers carry the revelation that a new book claims Pope John Paul II self-flagellated regularly to imitate Christ's ­suffering and signed a secret document saying he would resign instead of ruling for life if he became incurably ill,

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