What the papers say

Journalist Keith Baker takes a look at what's making the headlines in Tuesday morning's papers.

Many of the papers lead with the admission by Downing Street that an official did describe the weapons expert Dr David Kelly as a Walter Mitty, as quoted in the Independent on Monday.

The official is named on several front pages as Tom Kelly, one of the prime minister's official spokesmen, who used to work at BBC Northern Ireland.

The Guardian describes him as "coming out with his hands up".

It quotes him as saying "he might have used the expression but that he was simply mulling over the possibilities with a reporter who misinterpreted his remarks".

It is hard to see the Mirror buying that.

If Mr Blair had any honour he would purge Downing Street of its exponents of the dark arts The Mirror

The paper's editorial calls the Walter Mitty remark a "sickening slur".

It says Number 10 is "up to its neck in a campaign to blacken David Kelly's name".

"And if Mr Blair had any honour he would purge Downing Street of its exponents of the dark arts," the paper adds.

How can they stoop so low? the Mail headline wonders.

The Financial Times is among several papers who highlight a stern warning from John Prescott that there should be no disparaging remarks about Dr Kelly whose funeral is due to take place on Wednesday.

The Daily Telegraph front page has the claim that the Anglican church in the United States is in disarray after it postponed a vote to confirm the first actively gay bishop.

The paper reckons that if Canon Gene Robinson were to be elected, then this would pose a direct challenge to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, because it would revive what it calls the "fratricidal feud" between the evangelical and liberal wings of the Church of England.

For the Independent, the situation in Liberia is the big story.

It is intolerable that they are subjected to attack when they are out performing a public service which the community is demanding to see Irish News

It reports on the jubilant throng who were in the capital on Monday to welcome the first of the West African peacekeepers.

However, the paper says these joyful scenes "could not hide the legacy of 14 years of conflict".

It notes that as the troops were being greeted, 66 corpses were being buried in a mass grave just a few miles away.

Meanwhile, the News Letter and the Irish News concentrate on the news that police officers in Northern Ireland will have to disclose whether they are members of secret societies such as the Masons, the Orange Order or the Ancient Order of Hibernians.

"Ulster's cops are being told to reveal their true colours", the News Letter says, while the Irish News notes that Sinn Fein has welcomed the new measures.

The police come in for comment too in the paper's editorial column after an attack on them by a mob in west Belfast at the weekend.

The paper says such thugs deserve to be roundly condemned.

"The police deserve public support", it says, "and it is intolerable that they are subjected to attack when they are out performing a public service which the community is demanding to see."

Meanwhile, the Irish Independent brings welcome news that in the Republic, the level of street crime has seen a sharp drop.

There is speculation on the reason for this. It seems alcohol consumption is going down while jail sentences are going up.