Papers vent fury at expenses MPs

There is blistering criticism of MPs in the newspapers after almost 400 of them were ordered to repay more than £1m in expenses and allowances.

In the Daily Mirror's words, they are authors of their own downfall - claims for flagpoles and beds will disgust a public struggling to make ends meet.

The Sun, bluntly, instructs the "whingers" to "belt up and cough up".

For the Daily Telegraph, the whole episode was a "damning indictment of brazen dishonesty and greed".

Lies and statistics

The Independent has shadow home secretary Chris Grayling in its sights after a statistics watchdog criticised his use of crime figures as misleading.

The paper says Mr Grayling has suffered a "humiliating slapdown".

But the Times notes then-Home Secretary Jacqui Smith was reprimanded for using crime figures selectively in 2008.

The paper says that politicians of all shades are guilty of "taking the public for fools", and thus making it harder to have an informed argument.

Flu away

Some papers are not amused to learn that the telephone hotline and website set up in the UK to deal with the swine flu pandemic is to be shut down.

In the words of the Daily Express: "Billions of pounds have been wasted on vaccines that will never be used."

The Daily Mail says officials are accused of making flawed assessments.

In a future emergency, it asks: "Is it too much to hope that ministers might be more cautious in enriching multinational drug companies?"

Only a game

On yet another morning of unflattering headlines about the world of football, the Daily Telegraph finds something good to say about the beautiful game.

Researchers say playing football is better for your health than going for a run or lifting weights, it reports.

But the Daily Mail focuses on how the cashless society has changed the board game Monopoly, which now marks transactions electronically.

Gone is the opportunity to sneak notes from the banker's box, the paper sighs.