08/04/2014 The Papers

We will have both results on the way. And more on Chris Hoy and his

attempt to forge a career in motor sports. That comes after the papers.

Hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the papers will be bringing

us tomorrow. With me are the Spectator's Assistant editor Isabel

Hardman and Owen Jones from The Guardian. Tomorrow's front pages.

The Telegraph leads with comments from the culture secretary, Maria

Miller ` 'I have let you down' is the paper's headline. But its front

page is dominated by Martin McGuinness, the Deputy First

Minister of Northern Ireland wearing a white tie as he toasted the health

of the Queen at this evening's state banquet at Windsor Castle. Martin

McGuinness dressed in his evening finery also features on the front

page of the Mail. But alongside is what the paper describes as the

'dignified protest' of a father of an Omagh bomb victim, holding a

placard. The Irish Times not surprisingly leads with today's

historic state visit to the UK by the Irish President Michael D

Higgins. But for the Guardian, it's the controversy over the culture

secretary Maria Miller, which makes the lead story, and the desperate

plea from her parliamentary aide to Tory MPs to back her. The

Independent claims some drugs clinics are offering addicts

shopping vouchers to quit. And the Times carries an exclusive,

reporting that the Ministry of Defence is attempting to block the

publication of a book it commissioned one of its own officers

to write, which paints a bleak picture of the way military

operations were carried out in Afghanistan. But it's the sad death

of Peaches Geldof that the Metro chooses to focus on ` it says her

father Sir Bob Geldof was a sombre figure as he flew home to Britain

from the United States. And Peaches is also pictured with her baby sons

on the front page of the Star. The paper claims drugs and suicide have

not been ruled out as a cause of her death. So let's begin. We begin with

this picture, as the Queen hails Irish friends. Michael D Higgins,

the head of state for the Irish Republic. There is an Irish folk

ballad called the fields of Rye, talking about the two main

oppressors of Ireland being famine and the Crown. And you have this

lovely picture of the Queen with Michael D Higgins, and they look

like best chums. The other side of this is the anger from those who

filled the past is not something they are ready to let go of. They

are living in it. One of the themes of this visit for both the Queen and

Michael D Higgins have been that the two countries need to deal with

their history and look to their future. But there have been protests

of relatives of those killed. They say there are still questions from

the past which need to be Ansett before the countries can move on.

The speeches from both heads of state `` need to be answered. The

speeches were about looking and moving forward. For people on the

ground, that is difficult. Of course it is. It goes back centuries. The

colonial histories, with famine, the Irish famine in the 19th century,

the colonial terror which lasted into the 20th century after the

First World War, and then you have the legacy of the Irish Troubles,

where thousands of civilians were killed by loyalists as well as the

British Army, you also have a legacy of discrimination suffered by the

Irish community. We see a move before normality. That is a great

legacy of the peace process. If you have suffered, as so many have, the

bitter memory of a father, a son, a daughter, being killed in horrific

circumstances, no one should expect them to just move on and put it

behind them. A peace process says that enough people have died, let's

move on and have a process to stop it ever happening again. That is

what this is a part of. As you said, the Daily Mail leads with a father

who cannot for give. This man's son was killed in a bombing, and he says

there are still questions which desperately need to be answered.

This is the other side to the visit. One of the problems is that the

letters sent out in some cases suggested that some suspects might

be guaranteed immunity from prosecution, staring all of this up

again. Perhaps if the case hadn't arisen in the last few weeks and

months, that would not have been such an issue. But things are a lot

more broad than they would have been. `` a lot more raw. . Let's not

forget the attack there was by dissident republicans, attempting to

destabilise the peace process, it was by parties very opposed to Sinn

Fein. So it was the last great big atrocity of the Troubles. And one of

the worst it in terms of civilian deaths. It gave a renewed sense of

determination to the peace process, which others had tried to

destabilise. It is proving to be hugely symbolic. The fact that he

went to Windsor Castle, toasted the Queen, Stuffer the national anthem,

would previously have been unimaginable. Many who remember the

past decades could not have imagined it. Sinn Fein did not take up their

seat in Parliament, because that would mean respecting the

sovereignty of Britain. The fact they ended up in coalition with Ian

Paisley shows that this is a remarkable piece of progress. The

commitment to the peace process in terms of stability for the peoples

of Northern Ireland, written, and Ireland, this is `` Britain, this

reminds us how far we have come. Sounds like praise for Tony Blair!

You are at the Guardian now, and you have changed. Already. Bowen, where

did you go there is back `` Owen. The media accused of a hidden agenda

with regard to the Leveson proposals. The vast majority of

voters, across the spectrum, UKIP might even be marginally more angry,

even though three quarters of the population thinks she should resign.

The reason this has caused such a outrage, is that if you are accused

of benefit fraud, you get the full force of the law down on you. They

don't understand why are MPs are allowed, if accused of wrongdoing,

to have their colleagues sit in judgement. They don't understand why

MPs, who are paid far more than them, at a time of long falling

living standards, are basically regarding expenses as a way to top

up salaries. That is why this is causing outrage. Leveson may be

fuelling this further, but that is why people are upset. She was

pleading with colleagues to support Maria Miller, suggesting a

witch`hunt. One of the things exactly that very few colleagues

have been prepared to defend her in public. Some have done so because it

is their job to do so, but without a great deal of enthusiasm for her as

a minister. She seems to have very few allies in Cabinet, even before

this blew up. Her non` apology on Thursday, it was very difficult to

find a Cabinet minister who thought she would survive the summer

reshuffle anyway. She was damaged goods because of Leveson and gay

marriage. She wasn't a great performer, as well. I actually

disagreed with that. She was hugely respectful over gay marriage. She

took questions from all sides. Watching her apology last week, I

turned the TV on, and sought her colleagues sitting next to her,

Jeremy Hunt. And then I saw the report later that showed him going

back up there in order to show physically for the cameras his

support. He hasn't come out and said anything, or George Young. He

probably wouldn't, because he is the chief. He probably feels the her,

because he has been through his own crisis. Most Tory MPs have looked at

this and decided it was too toxic. I think the difference is between

David Cameron and other prime ministers is that others would have

let her go very quickly. You mentioned Jeremy Hunt, he was

embroiled in controversy, and ended up being promoted. He would now

think that he made a big mistake. Absolutely, people like me have

apologised publicly. Folks, you can get this on iPlayer. Owen Jones said

he was wrong. There is a difference in approach where David Cameron is

loath to let ministers go. He doesn't have many women in Cabinet.

He doesn't have to make her resign in order to sack her. What he could

have done is insist on some form of public contrition which made her

apology in the House of Commons. And possibly not use the words "warm

support" . She has managed to fuel this as best she could. She gave a

terrible non` apology. And Mary Macleod's intervention has not

helped. Especially with all the things going on. The Times doesn't

have Maria Miller on the front, actually. At the very bottom. And

from them, how surprising! This is fascinating. It is a book from a

captain in the Territorial Army about the lessons from Afghanistan.

It is about what the government can learn from that conflict. The

Ministry of Defence feels, their argument is that could contain

intelligence material which shouldn't be in the public domain.

But it is surely part of a really important public debate about the

lessons from the conflict in Afghanistan. As we start to pull out

from that country, you see everyone, left my right, and centre, offering

their own opinions, when they may not have even been to Afghanistan.

Surely this is an important part of accountability process. I think it

is a travesty of their block this book. This is a war which began, and

was over very quickly. It was one of these "mission accomplished" , and

13 years later with many deaths and no peace and security in

Afghanistan, a disastrous conflict in which so many died horrendous

deaths. There was that sense, partly, it was because you had had

the British quite humiliating rout in Basra in Iraq, and this was in a

sense to compensate for that, and I think all people, regardless of

their stamps on the conflict, would want lessons to be learnt in order

for such an unnecessary loss of life to be avoided. If they block this,

it could put people 's lives at risk in future and end Finally, the Daily

Telegraph. How not to make cheese on toast. I hope we can bring this

picture up now. We really lobbied for this. What happened here? The

London Fire Brigade were called out to a house they are being used by a

toaster on its side with cheese in it. That is quite clever. If I was

the worse for wear I could imagine myself doing this. You are

desperately cheese, you don't want the cheese to fall off. It makes

perfect sense. Was there a problem here? To the house blowup? There was

a house fire. I was going to give it ago but I have decided not to on the

basis this story. Import and cooking advice. Bowen and Isabel thank you.

Stay with us here on BBC News. We will have more on the first of a

state visit to the UK by the president of the Irish Republic. The

Queen has welcomed him. Now it is sports day. .