What the papers say

Journalist Mike Philpott takes a look at what is making the headlines in Thursday's morning newspapers.

The Belfast Telegraph says MLAs are feeling the heat as they face calls for action over energy prices.

The paper has the story of one woman for whom the issue is crucial. Paula Moore from Dunmurry has a son with cerebral palsy and a daughter with a heart condition.

She is quoted as saying that the gas needs to be on at her home 12 hours a day, and she has noticed the increasing cost of collecting medicines because of the rise in diesel prices.

In a comment column, the News Letter says Northern Ireland Electricity and Phoenix Gas are in a better position to ride out the credit crunch than the people they supply.

But it devotes its main headline to Wednesday's service of national commemoration for those who served in the armed forces during the Troubles.

The Irish News opts instead for the shocking story of a woman who was bitten on the face during an attack by a UVF gang.

It says she was picked out because she lives in an area associated with the UDA.

And it quotes one witness who claimed that the police needed permission from paramilitaries before they could make arrests in the Mount Vernon area of Belfast.

Both the Irish Independent and the Irish Times have front page reports on government research indicating that the key reason why people voted against the Lisbon Treaty was that they simply did not understand it.

The Irish Times comments that if there is to be another referendum, the government's only hope of swaying the electorate is to conduct a more effective campaign that addresses their concerns.

The Irish Independent points out that a range of other issues had a smaller effect on the No vote, including the possibility of conscription into a European army.

In the cross-channel papers, there's virtually no agreement on what the biggest headline should be.

The Times goes for a dispute involving barristers, who are refusing to work for a Legal Aid fee of £91 an hour because they see it as "derisory".

The paper says it has the potential to derail dozens of major trials, including rape and murder cases.

The Daily Mail talks of a race war at Scotland Yard and says the leadership of the Metropolitan Police is in meltdown after yet another senior Asian officer prepared a claim against the Commissioner, Sir Ian Blair.

The Independent looks at the outcome of a court case in which a jury accepted the argument that environmental campaigners had a lawful excuse for damaging a coal-fired power station. The paper says it's a verdict that will shock ministers and energy companies.

Finally, the pub delivery that went royally wrong.

The Queen's staff in Windsor received a delivery of 12 barrels of lager - that's 2,000 pints' worth. But there was no record of the order in the household's books.

As the Sun reports, it was intended for fans watching the England versus Croatia match at a nearby pub called the Windsor Castle.