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Saturday, 10 March, 2001, 07:19 GMT

Few kind words for Hammond



Whether it is described as a sham, a whitewash or a Whitehall farce, there are few kind words for Sir Anthony Hammond's report into the Hinduja passport affair.

The Guardian calls it a classic insider's job that points no fingers.

For Sir Anthony, everything is for the best in the best of all possible worlds... except that it is not, according to The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Mail lists 15 questions which it says were ducked by the Hammond inquiry and the Daily Express calls for a debate in the House of Commons.

Peter Mandelson is regarded byThe Sun as the great manipulator. Blair sussed him, it says, he fired him, and he should never come back.

The Mirror asks simply "Where are your friends now, Peter?".

A comparison is drawn with Charles l's relationship with Sir Thomas Wentworth, the Earl of Strafford, in The Times.

The King's most devoted servant, Strafford was sent as Lord Deputy to Ireland when the Crown was being accused of showing to much sympathy to Roman Catholics.

He was eventually executed after trial by kangaroo court. Charles I's decision to allow Strafford's death, we are told, marked the beginning of the end of his reign.

The Daily Telegraph carries an interview with the Attorney General, Lord Williams of Mostyn, in which he calls for a change to the 1701 Act of Settlement which bars Catholics from succeeding to the throne and from marrying the heir to the throne.

Lord Williams says the Act is outdated and he also believes daughters should be allowed to succeed.

Racy tome

A racy new television adaptation of Boris Pasternak's Nobel prize-winning novel, Doctor Zhivago, is upsetting the author's descendants according to The Independent.

It has being written by Andrew Davies, the man who put the figure-hugging wet shirt on Darcy in Pride and Prejudice.

Responding to concerns from Anna Pasternak, who wrote a controversial account of an affair involving Princess Diana, Mr Davies tells the paper he is putting in as much panting fervour as she did in her book.

As the meaning of Boris and Anna's surname in Russian is parsnip - it would seem a shame not to mention the world's biggest such vegetable which has been grown by a gardener with an unusual talent.

King of parsnips The Sun says that Barry Micklethwaite from Barnsley grew his three-foot parsnip by singing Elvis songs to it.

"I love Elvis's music", he tells the paper, "and so do my vegetables".

Hardened criminal

The Mail speaks to a nine-year-old boy from Bristol who has carried out a series of crimes but is too young to face prosecution.

It says the boy, who suffers from attention deficiency syndrome, has set fire to cars, smashed car windows and emptied a bin full of hypodermic needles on to a children's playing field.

He tells the paper he is worried about going to prison because he would miss his birthday, Christmas and his family.

As efforts continue to sell the Millennium Dome, The Guardian reports on a circus troupe called Storm which made its name in the site's spectacular aerial show and which is trying to become a permanent touring circus.

While many of the Dome's performers have moved on, Storm's 19 members are relying on their talents and their team spirit in the hope of a fairy-tale ending.


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