With all eyes on the Sun and its decision to nail its election colours to the mast a week before the general election, the rest of the UK papers’ front pages are as split as the 40% of voters who “still can’t decide” a week before the general election, according to the Daily Mail splash.
Not one paper shares the same story, or even picture, on their front pages on Thursday.
The Telegraph continues its run of slavishly anti-Labour front pages with a poll predicting disaster for Labour in Scotland with the SNP winning all 59 seats: “Miliband heads for wipeout in Scotland”. The front page is dominated by a picture of Prince Charles playing badminton.
The Guardian prints a large picture of a smirking David Cameron (accompanying an exclusive interview with the prime minister); its splash reveals the extent of the schism within the coalition partners.
Danny Alexander, the Liberal Democrat chief secretary to the Treasury, lifts the lid on a secret Tory plan to slash £8bn benefits, saying that his coalition partners are trying to “con” the electorate by refusing to say what they are going to cut until after the election. If Alexander’s story of draconian cuts to welfare including child benefit and child tax credits is true, it will please rightwing Tories.
The Express’s “exclusive” interview with work and pensions minister Iain Duncan Smith leads the paper to claim that “’dangerous’ Labour and SNP will send our benefits bill soaring”. This is all the more frightening in Express eyes as its main splash claims we are “all living longer”.
The Times leads with a story suggesting Nick Clegg’s own party does not want him to enter a second coalition with the Conservatives: “Lib Dems to revolt over fresh pact with Tories”.
The Financial Times leads on the US recovery, but its story about the parties’ focus on social media reveals some interesting statistics such as the fact that the Conservatives have won far more “likes” on Facebook while @davidcameron is followed by almost twice as many people on Twitter than @edmiliband.
Other papers look elsewhere, with the Independent running an important piece about how London’s homeless are being forced to find shelter outside capital, while the Daily Mirror splashes on “Cocaine found in Kate’s hospital toilet”.
Possibly the best line is left to the Telegraph’s Matt cartoon in which one dragonfly says to another “We only live for 24 hours, but it really drags when there’s a general election.”
