Sundays take a swipe at Budget

The Sundays take their punch at the Budget with the Sunday Times leading the way.

The paper says there is evidence that many people believe the government broke a key election promise.

It has a poll which shows 58% of those questioned believed the rise in National Insurance contributions ran against Labour's pledge not to increase income tax.

The survey also shows that fewer than one in five people thought the billions of pounds of extra funding for the NHS would make a difference.

The poll of almost 3,000 people was carried out on Thursday and Friday by YouGov.

Brown v Blair

But as is the nature of polls, the numbers add up differently in the Sunday Telegraph.

Again, more than half of those questioned said Labour had broken its election promise, but 76% said they approved of the decision to increase NI.

ICM interviewed a random sample of just over 1,000 adults for the poll.

In its Comment section, the paper says the Budget attacked the very source of the economic growth which had given the government scope to take such political risks.

And it reminds us of Margaret Thatcher's words: "You don't kill the goose that lays the golden egg".

The Chancellor runs into controversy of a different nature in the Mail on Sunday with a story that he has criticised Tony Blair's support for American action against Iraq.

It quotes the veteran Labour MP, Tam Dalyell, as saying Mr Brown feels the Prime Minister is being "too gung-ho".

Mr Brown is said to fear that if Britain's policy on Iraq leads to an escalation of violence in the Middle East, oil prices could go through the roof which, in turn, could badly affect the British economy.

IRA list

The row over the IRA "hit-list" discovered in police raids in Belfast rumbles on with new claims in the Sunday Telegraph.

The paper says the IRA has flagrantly breached the Good Friday Agreement after senior IRA commanders secretly bought a consignment of powerful new Russian special forces assault rifles while pretending to be de-commissioning.

The paper says details were disclosed by military intelligence officers, and it points out that, along with the updated hit-list, this could "fuel fears that the terrorists are preparing for a resumption of violence".

Sven again

All the papers are intrigued by the apparent relationship between the England football coach, Sven Goran Eriksson, and fellow Swede and TV presenter, Ulrika Jonsson.

Under the heading, "United - but not together", the Observer is one of several papers to carry a photograph of Ulrika at Saturday's game between Chelsea and Manchester United, which Sven was also at but they did not sit together.

The Sunday Mirror reports that Sven whisked Ulrika away for a secret break at his Portuguese villa, a month after they had met.

The Sunday Express claims to reveal details of the night Ulrika fell for Sven, while the News of the World has an insight from Ulrika's children's nanny's boyfriend.

All the papers justify the huge interest in the story with its possible repercussions for the England team.

Sunday Telegraph quotes Sven's Italian girlfriend, Nancy Dell'Olio as saying Sven might quit Britain after the World Cup because of media intrusion.

And finally, the Observer reveals what many men have suspected for years - that women spend an inordinate amount of time getting ready to go out.

The paper says that research carried out for Marks and Spencer has shown that it is impossible for a woman to take less than 21 minutes to leave the house - no matter where she is going.