What the papers say

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

Party leaders are in the headlines. The News Letter looks ahead to the meeting of the Ulster Unionist Assembly group at Stormont.

It talks of David Trimble facing a fresh challenge and it draws attention to the letter submitted by MLAs who are unhappy about the direction of the party.

Elsewhere, the paper has the thoughts of Lord Molyneaux who reckons Sir Reg Empey's the man to lead the party now.

But the paper points out that Mr Trimble's eight years at the helm have not been easy and because of the current difficulties within unionism, few people with leadership pretensions are coming forward with any real conviction.

In the Irish Times, a headline tells us that Mr Trimble is confident he can survive this latest challenge.

Several of the cross-channel papers examine the performance of Michael Howard in Harrogate on Sunday.

'Internal discipline'

A sketch writer in the Independent says the standing ovation he received was genuine, unlike the "stage-managed" affair for his predecessor.

The paper reckons the party that seemed to have a death wish has now sprung back to life.

All weekend, it says, only one delegate was spotted nodding off. And there were even quite a few people under the age of 60.

The Daily Telegraph tells us that Conservative Central Office is now being run on on a strict need-to-know basis and compares it to Bletchley Park in wartime.

Internal discipline is being rigorously enforced, it says, with the party planning for a vicious fight with Labour, one in which you either hit or be hit.

The Guardian has an interview with Alastair Campbell and notes that he has expressed a measure of regret over his fierce attacks on the BBC after the Hutton Report.

"I did not intend to come over as hard and certainly not triumphalist," he says.

The paper draws attention to the way he talks about his former colleagues in the interview.

Mr Blair is described as a huge historical figure; Gordon Brown is a huge figure and John Prescott is a big historical figure.

Meanwhile, the Independent claims that Downing Street tried to muzzle the government's top scientific adviser after he warned that global warming was a more serious threat than international terrorism.

The paper says Mr Blair's private secretary told Sir David King, the prime minister's chief scientist, that he should limit his contact with the media after he made outspoken remarks about George Bush's policy climate change.

'Millionaire lifestyle'

The Mirror's worried about the future of racing. Having a flutter on the horses is an innocent pastime enjoyed by millions, it says, but if the allegations of race-rigging against Kieran Fallon are true then the whole thing could collapse.

The Express carries the headline: "Jockey horror show".

Events in Spain, of course, are taking up a lot of space - the front page and four other pages in the Mirror, for example.

There are pictures everywhere of the various wives and partners arriving to see their men in prison.

The Daily Star says Messrs Gillespie, Dickov and Sinclair are currently experiencing a lifestyle which is rather different from the millionaire one they are used to.

It says each player's weekly pay of around £15,000 has now plummeted to £40, plus vouchers which can be used at the prison snack shop.

Instead of champagne and caviar in fancy restaurants, the basic prison meal is rice and rabbit.

Finally, news of a new drug that is being developed. Scientists claim it will restore fading middle-aged memory.

According to the Mail, the drug, code-named HT0712, is being dubbed "Viagra of the mind".

The paper says that if it is successful then soon there will be no excuse for failing to remember a wedding anniversary, birthday or business meeting.