Papers consider Byers' future

Several papers return to their favourite subject on Friday - the political future of Stephen Byers.

Some are convinced his revelation that the government is setting aside time in the next parliament to draw up legislation for a referendum on the euro, could mean the end of his cabinet career.

The Daily Telegraph says his comments caught Downing Street off guard, and led to them being swiftly disowned.

The Independent says it has prompted fresh speculation that he will lose his job in the cabinet.

The Financial Times believes his off-the-record comments threaten to undermine the government's choreographed approach to the euro.

It notes this is the second time in his career that a supposedly private meal with journalists has landed the transport secretary in trouble.

The Sun is convinced Mr Byers is finished and claims he is guilty of a cardinal sin in politics - talking about government tactics six months before the Queen's Speech.

Emperor Blair?

But it is Tony Blair's future that dominates The Sun's inside pages, with the political editor Trevor Kavanagh revealing to readers the prime minister wants to become the first elected Emperor of Europe.

That is, the president of the European Union.

The new post would come with a fat salary, a palace - which has still to be built - and a six month contract.

This, according to Mr Kavanagh, is the reason behind his renewed zeal for a referendum on the euro.

The Daily Mail says it would be the most desirable 'retirement' job in history, and would make him Europe's first ruler since Charlemagne, back in the year 800.

Double assault

The Times carries a warning for the government from the Lord Chief Justice that its stream of anti-crime initiatives will not restore public confidence in the justice system's ability to curb lawlessness.

In what the paper describes as a barely veiled attack on David Blunkett and Tony Blair, Lord Woolf says ministers should concentrate on solving simple problems, such as getting prisoners to court on time.

There is more advice for the government in The Guardian but not from an obvious source.

Peter Mandelson - considered by many to be the master of spin - says the government has lost public trust by "clumsy, crude over use of spin".

He accuses it of only tinkering with social equality in its first term.

Old is new

According to The Daily Mirror, culture and heritage are the new themes of a £25m advertising campaign to woo back American tourists.

The Times says old is now the newest thing.

The advertisment features a bulldog, a cup of tea, Castle Howard, a wellington boot-throwing competition, a black taxi cab outside Buckingham Palace and a personal greeting from Tony Blair.

Downtown Rochester

Rochester in Kent is certainly in need of an uplift.

The Daily Telegraph and The Daily Express report that it has been mistakenly relegated from a city to a town.

The Express says it is all because council chiefs failed to fill out the relevant paper work, leaving Rochester off the latest city list published by the Lord Chancellor.

The chairman of the City of Rochester Society, Peter Downton says he cannot believe the mistake, sending 600 years of history down the drain.