Papers thrash out euro issue

The election balloon is well and truly airborne, says The News of the World, but it's being kept aloft with hot air from the party leaders.

The general tactic is don't give away your policies - just blow very hard.

It's time, says the paper, to stick a pin in the balloon and for the electorate to get some down-to-earth plans on the big issues.

One issue examined by many of the papers is whether, and when, Britain should join the euro.

Referendum

The Sunday Times says Tony Blair has overruled the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, and begun to prepare public opinion for signing up early in the next parliament.

In its editorial, the paper says Mr Blair has come out fighting for closer integration into the EU with the confidence of a man so far ahead in the polls that he now longer fears voter rebellion in defence of the pound.

One pro-euro Labour MP tells the paper the prime minister will steamroller opposition to monetary union inside and outside the party.

A poll of 1,000 voters carried out for the paper highlights the strength of that opposition, but also the high degree of fatalism about the issue.

61% said they'd vote "no" in a euro referendum, but just over half expected to see Britain join the euro within the next five years.

The Mail on Sunday says Mr Blair will hold that referendum within the next 12 months, and agrees that this plan is further evidence of the rift between the prime minister and his more euro-sceptic chancellor.

An un-named minister tells The Sunday Telegraph that the euro referendum campaign will begin within weeks of an election victory and will be "motoring" this summer.

The Observer, in its editorial, calls on Mr Blair to make the positive economic case for joining the euro.

If he gets the argument right, says the paper, he can floor Tory prejudices completely.

Disease blame

The issue of foot-and-mouth shows no sign of going away.

The Independent on Sunday says government officials are blaming farmers for the latest outbreak of the disease around Settle in North Yorkshire.

The Ministry of Agriculture believes it was caused by breaches in the regulations designed to contain the virus.

Ministry sources tell the paper they think farmers have caused much of the spread of the disease and that some have even profiteered from it.

Hot stuff

And so, back to hot air. There's comforting news in The Sunday Telegraph for those convinced that the weather is about to get worse because it's a bank holiday.

Statistically, it seems, it's likely to be nicer this weekend than next week or seven days ago.

We only think it'll be bad because our expectations are too high.

Warped tracks

And hot air is to blame for the latest crisis to hit the rail network, where expectations have not been high for some time.

The Sunday Times says train passengers face a summer of delays because new tracks, laid after the Hatfield crash, were not put down properly and buckled in last week's sunshine.

More than 200 trains were delayed or cancelled because lines warped.

Commuters were told their trains had been held up because of "hot tracks".

It's a cruel joke, says the paper. "What happens if we get a real heat wave?"