Sunday Paper Review 29 April 2012

Jeremy Hunt And The Tories, Look Away Now...

If you're a Tory, the one good thing you can say about the Sunday papers is there aren't any devastating allegations which might make David Cameron or Jeremy Hunt's job even more difficult. If you're not a Tory, you'll probably be disappointed about that.

Despite this there's an awful lot for Tories to be worried about in the papers, which all cover the latest pretty shocking poll numbers. The Sunday Express focuses on how 82% of people think the Conservative party is out of touch, based on the findings of its own poll. It highlights the comments by disenchanted Tory MP Nadie Dorries earlier this week, but buries a more interesting figure, which is that Ed Miliband and David Cameron are now almost neck-and-neck in terms of trust.

Up until recently Ed Miliband's poll ratings have been stubbornly low despite his party's popularity soaring. That could be beginning to change, perhaps. But The Sunday Times looks at a separate poll, suggesting the Tories are now on 29% - their worst standing since 2004 when Michael Howard was leader and the party was on course for a third general election defeat. Elsewhere it's noted that if these polls were translated in to a general election Labour would end up with a three-digit majority. That's always a silly thing to do, even though people can't resist doing it, but The Mail on Sunday claims Cameron has warned that things are going to get worse before they get better.

The Sunday Times also expects further Leveson trauma for David Cameron, if as expected former News International executive Rebekah Brooks divulges all the texts and emails she exchanged with the prime minister. Is Cameron regretting setting up the press ethics inquiry?

Presumably Jeremy Hunt wishes his boss hadn't started all this, as the culture secretary isn't spared the wrath of the Sunday papers. The Observer carries reports that the former BBC Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons has weighed in on the row, saying Hunt was "too close" to the Murdochs. Not a position any senior BBC executive would find themselves in, of course, given the BBC and News International are poles apart in every way.

But the Observer ratchets up the pressure on Hunt, alleging that the row surrounding his alleged "cheerleading" of the BSkyB bid by the Murdochs is now affecting policy. According to the paper a set of government proposals on media regulation have now been shelved, because it would be politically impossible for them to be published at present without embarrassing Hunt. This might be the silver bullet - once policy is being affected by a minister's problems, resignation cannot be long in following.

A couple of the papers focus on the woman who used to date David Cameron but then decided to become a nun. Sister John Mary tells the Mail on Sunday that her breakup in the mid 1990s from Cameron profoundly affected her. She never dated another man in politics and later discovered God's calling. Is she praying for the Prime Minister in his most desperate hour? Unfortunately we're not told.

Here's the rest of the Sunday papers...

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