Papers outraged over French poll

A jubilant Jean-Marie Le Pen prompted hasty redesigns of the broadsheet newspapers on Sunday night after his success at the French presidential polls.

Their reaction is unanimous, with headlines reflecting shock, cataclysm, and disaster.

The far-right leader is described in the Daily Telegraph as a venomous racist, while the Times opts for a veteran brawler of the National Front.

The Guardian says he is "widely abhorred" in France.

Euro-correctness

All this before the leader writers get their turn to ponder the biggest upset in French politics for 40 years.

The Times blames France's voting rules, but says opponents President Chirac and Lionel Jospin are partly to blame for failing to take seriously the concerns of the French people about rising crime.

The Daily Telegraph agrees, adding that the mainstream candidates appeared to offer the same blend of corporatist Euro-correctness.

The Independent points the finger at voter-apathy.

The Sun really goes to town, describing Mr Le Pen as among other things, vile, racist, and a nasty piece of work, adding his success is an indication that "the Fascists are on the march again".

Cabinet disorder

Back in British politics, Prime Minister Tony Blair is under pressure from ghosts of past and present Cabinets.

The Daily Mirror claims Gordon Brown is ready to lead Cabinet opposition to any strike against Iraq because he does not agree with Mr Blair siding with America.

The paper's political editor, James Hardy, says the chancellor believes such action could lead to a huge rise in oil prices which could in turn threaten the British economy.

And over in the Daily Mail there are five pages of revelations by former Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam as the paper starts serialising her autobiography.

The paper says Dr Mowlam identifies Mr Blair's three most trusted lieutenants as the men who hounded her out of office - Peter Mandelson, Alastair Campbell, and Jonathan Powell.

The first hint of trouble came, she recalls in the first extract, when the opinion polls showed "I was getting better ratings than Tony Blair".

A standing ovation at a Labour party conference during a speech by the Prime Minister, was she says, the point at which their relationship began to get "rocky".

Swede hearts

The relationship between England manager Sven Goran Eriksson and TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson shows no sign of losing its space in column inches.

The Sun calls them "Swede Hearts".

On its front page, the Daily Telegraph says Eriksson has assured the Football Association he will continue in his post despite "great discomfort" at the intense media intrusion into his personal life.

A reader writing to the paper, referring to reports that the two compatriots were introduced at a party by Tony Blair's key spin doctor, wonders, "Since when has Alastair Campbell been responsible for foreign affairs?".