Anthony Howard of The Times and Boris Johnson of The Daily Telegraph discuss press reaction

Derision at worst and pity at best is what he will be faced with as he scans the broadsheets and tabloids.

Mr Hague will speak to Welsh activists on Friday and will need to dig deep as he starts his fightback from this kind of onslaught.

The Daily Mail wrings its hands with anguish over seeing the leader of Her Majesty's Opposition throw away opportunities to oppose the government on issues like the euro and taxes.

And it points out that Mr Hague had better get his act together soon.

'Still on the launch pad'

"Mr Hague no longer has the luxury of time.

"Unless he begins to make some impact in the polls, the leadership issue may well return to haunt the Tories."

And for anyone who wants to see just how badly the Tories are doing in the polls, The Daily Telegraph obliges with a Gallup Poll which shows that Labour has a two-to-one leader over the Conservatives.

It notes wearily that the Tories are "still on the launch pad and with no fuel".

Mr Hague gets a rocket from The Mirror under the headline We're All Domed, a cheap jibe at Mr Hague's balding pate - which gets a good showing in most papers.

The Independent quotes "a member of Mr Blair's team" who was amazed at how the government got off the hook over the sticky issue of European tax alignment at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday - when Mr Hague turned his attention to reform of the Lords.

'Poor William Hague'

"We were on the ropes; we expected six questions ... on tax. We couldn't believe what happened."

"Hague is looking like a man with the label 'caretaker' round his neck", says an Independent headline.

"Poor William Hague," says The Express in its editorial.

"His leadership is now on the line, after being betrayed by an aristo, and the Opposition now appears all but useless."

"Viscount Cranborne ... has provoked the greatest crisis of Mr Hague's leadership," says The Guardian.

Fighting for Europe

The Sun reveals that former Tory leadership contender Kenneth Clarke was tucking into a bottle of champagne in the House of Commons as Tory peers fell on their swords and everything was falling down around Mr Hague.

Daily Telegraph reader C Campbell Smith writes that Mr Hague should get his own sword out and start fighting for Europe.

"So William Hague has at last "shown his steel" on a matter of principle; rightly so. May I suggest that he now draws his sword from its scabbard completely, holds it high like King Harry and calls for the people to march with him in the defence of the principle of sovereignty."