Papers look to 2005 election

It seems that politicians cannot wait for the next general election.

According to The Guardian, Tony Blair has opened his five year diary and pencilled in October, 2005, for the next general election.

The paper says Mr Blair believes his extra spending on health and education will have had its impact, and what is more, he will have been able to "restore trust lost".

The Times says he surprised his Cabinet colleagues by telling them he would be taking "full hands-on control of election planning" - a job Gordon Brown has done in the past.

But being ready to fight is one thing. Having winning policies is quite another.

'Higher charges'

And on that front, there is scepticism at Friday's speech by Mr Blair: "Stealth taxes will rise again," is a headline in The Daily Mail.

The Independent caught "hints" that "the middle classes might have to pay their own way to safeguard the welfare state for the poorest".

And that is a theme The Daily Telegraph highlights. It reads Mr Blair's words as a message to Middle Britain that a third term for Labour would mean new charges for pensions, higher education and transport.

As for the continuing arguments over Iraq, The Daily Express sees a growing climate of hostility towards Mr Blair from all wings of the Labour party.

It sums up the demands voiced by the former minister, Glenda Jackson, and others as: "Find these weapons, or quit".

Embarrassing

The Independent sees more trouble ahead, reporting that the government's first dossier on Iraq, like the second, made use of material taken from the internet.

The paper says some of the information was lifted from statements by senior American officials and defence experts.

The Independent thinks the revelation is bound to be "acutely embarrassing to the prime minister".

"It's all down to a souvenir doll" - that's how the Daily Star sees the legal battle between the Diana Memorial Fund and an American keepsake company which is, in the paper's phrase, threatening the Princess's "caring legacy".

Writing in the Daily Mirror, the former royal butler Paul Burrell argues that the Fund is to blame for the crisis by provoking the Franklin Mint company.

Mr Burrell fears that her legacy and hard work may now be undone.

Officially summer

The Sun says the only people to benefit will be the lawyers and it thinks "this row insults the memory of the woman both sides seek to commemorate".

The Times is happy to announce that summer has officially arrived.

The paper is confident because its "experts" have noted four crucial signs.

The Blairs "have found someone else to pay for this year's holiday".

The "real summer game", football transfers, "the scratch of pen on chequebook", has begun

There has been the first feeble excuse of the season - a chocolate company blaming the heat for poor sales.

And with the Italian politician's comments that led the German chancellor to cancel his trip to Italy, there has been "the first insult of summer".