Papers revel in Major admission

Tabloids and broadsheets alike all round on the one big story of the day - the admission by ex-Prime Minister John Major that he had a four-year affair with Edwina Currie.

Despite having had time to digest the revelations made in the Saturday Times, a sense of incredulity persists.

The paper's Sunday stablemate finds it "bafflingly hard to picture": Mr Major, the "grey man of British politics" exposed as a "double-dealing lothario" who had an affair with the "tempestuous" Mrs Currie.

The News of the World calls it "mind-boggling" while the Sunday Mirror prefers "tacky" and "sad".

Given the number of Tories forced out of office during the Major "back to basics" years because of their sexual conduct, for the Independent on Sunday, the real mystery is how Mrs Currie "kept her mouth shut so long".

The Sunday Telegraph is not alone in recalling her first novel, A Parliamentary Affair, published in 1994.

Its plot centres on a married female MP who has a four-year affair with a married government whip called Roger. The paper wants to know: "Was Roger, the Whip and man of passion, really a character of fiction?"

But the People urges Mrs Currie to come clean on what it calls the last state secret of the Major era: Did he really tuck his shirt inside his underpants?

The Mail on Sunday is not amused - questioning the extent of the fuss - while devoting four pages to the story.

It rounds on the BBC and others for making so much of what the paper calls an "affair that shouldn't make the Earth move".

With this country on the verge of a war, the Mail argues, some parts of the media need to examine their motives and sense of proportion.

Downgraded?

The timing of the Major-Currie story could hardly have been more opportune for the under-pressure Education Secretary, Estelle Morris.

But, according to the Independent, there's further trouble ahead.

It reports that Mike Tomlinson, the chairman of the inquiry into the A-level fiasco, believes that this summer's AS-level exams are likely to have been just as badly affected.

The Observer speaks of evidence of political interference in the grading of GCSEs and primary school tests.

It believes that Ms Morris's political future hangs in the balance.

The News of the World goes further: it says the buck must stop with the education secretary - and her chances of retaining her job are slim.

Progress not pessimism

In advance of this week's Labour Party conference, the prime minister has given an interview to the Observer.

In it, Tony Blair condemns what he terms the "British disease" of pessimism.

He tells the paper a culture of cynicism is undermining progress towards better public services and a strong economy.

But he insists he won't be swayed from his plans to reform the health and education systems.

But, speaking to the Independent on Sunday, one of Mr Blair's ministers, Peter Hain, strikes a contrasting note.

He says the government has become "uncomfortably" detached from party members and the trade unions - and needs to pay more care and attention to what they are saying.

Certified clamper

Thankfully there is still room for some Sunday fun.

The Times manages to move a little bit away from political spin and intrigue to reveal that Britain has become the first country to introduce a formal qualification in car clamping.

The new National Vocational Qualification in "parking control" is aimed at aspiring young traffic wardens.

Candidates on the 10-week course are given a 150-page textbook dealing with subjects such as issuing tickets and calming irate drivers.