Papers herald start of election race

In the words of The Guardian, Tony Blair's appearance on the BBC's Breakfast With Frost programme on Sunday fired the starting gun for the general election.

And there is little argument with that elsewhere.

Many of the papers highlight the Prime Minister's remarks that, from now on, he would concentrate more on doing the right thing than being popular.

The Guardian sees this as a change of tack designed to re-motivate Labour's core vote.

Election challenge

It quotes senior ministers as interpreting his remarks as "an end to the big tent philosophy" which saw Labour court The Sun and the Daily Mail - not least over Europe.

In an editorial, The Sun itself describes Mr Blair's cabinet as "Europe-obsessed".

But it says the prime minister deserves credit for delivering on the economy, unlike previous Labour administrations.

Not so the Daily Mail. It reports that William Hague is to launch the Tories' election campaign with a "ferocious" onslaught on Labour, for imposing high taxes and ruining public services.

Dome 'going cheap'

The row over the proposed sale of the Millennium Dome to a consortium led by Labour donor, Robert Bourne, rumbles on.

According to The Times, the official spending watchdog, the National Audit Office, has begun an urgent investigation into whether the best possible deal was secured.

Concern is said to be growing that the site is being sold to the Legacy group too cheaply.

There is further controversy over the disclosure that the £125m price is to be paid in stages over a period of years - the initial payment will be only £50m.

The Daily Telegraph describes it as a sale "on HP", while for The Sun says the sale is "on the never-never".

Abuse revealed

The Independent believes it has uncovered the full scale of police investigations into allegations of child abuse in Britain.

According to its figures, nearly 100 big inquiries are under way into claims thought to involve around 2,500 children at more than 500 residential care homes.

Put another way, about three-quarters of the police forces surveyed in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were conducting such investigations.

There is embarrassment for the Prince of Wales, following his fall from his horse while fox-hunting in Derbyshire.

The Sun prints a picture of the prince looking sheepish, with his broken shoulder in a sling, under the headline: "One Is A Plonker".

The Mirror's verdict is: "Banning hunting won't only be good news for foxes. It should save Prince Charles a lot of pain too".

Rival Lottery

A month after he lost out to Camelot in the contest for the new licence to run the National Lottery, both the Financial Times and The Express report that Sir Richard Branson is planning to launch an independent rival lottery.

The Express says the entrepreneur is to have talks with the culture secretary, Chris Smith, over his proposals for a non-profit game that would run alongside the existing Lottery.

The paper says he will also give a warning that he is serious about pursuing legal action over last month's decision.

Horse play

With management trainers always on the lookout for new ideas, The Independent has discovered an unlikely course being run at the Manchester Business School.

It is horse-whispering - the art of taming stallions.

Senior executives are given the task of coaxing an unbroken horse into accepting them, using body language and eye contact rather than force.

The theory is that the techniques, pioneered in the deserts of the southern United States, will help to train captains of industry to abandon their old-style aggression.