Thatcher's 'EU view' among Sunday's front pages

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So what would Maggie do? The answer, apparently, is "Say yes, yes, yes to Europe".

With the vote on whether the UK should leave or remain in the EU - and which politicians will campaign for each option - dominating the Sunday newspapers, the Sunday Times wonders how the late prime minister Margaret Thatcher would vote if she were still alive.

That conclusion of Lord Powell, her former private secretary, may baffle some of the firm opponents of the EU who can be found in the Conservative Party. But he relates his many conversations with Baroness Thatcher before her death and explains: "The one thing I never heard her propose was Britain's withdrawal from the EU. The reason was simple: her aim was to change it, not leave it."

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The paper's main editorial says Lord Powell's article represents an "important intervention, albeit one that will be disputed by others who knew her".

The Sunday Telegraph, meanwhile, says that many of the Conservative Party's local associations are accusing David Cameron of showing them "disrespect" after he instructed Tory MPs not to consider the views of their constituents when deciding how to vote in the EU referendum.

The paper's cartoonist Bob reimagines Mr Cameron as one of the characters of BBC One's lavish Sunday evening adaptation of War and Peace and has him atop a horse in front of massed ranks and telling a fellow officer: "These are my loyal footsoldiers... just try to ignore them."

The paper's editorial says that he should be seeking to engage every last Tory voter in a "healthy and vigorous debate" and should remember that, without the "hard work" of local party workers at the last election, he would have had to "pack his bags and leave No 10".

The Observer's cartoonist Riddell also has fun making the same point. Referencing the current movie Pride And Prejudice And Zombies, he depicts a mad skeletal figure with a blonde wig and handbag wielding a trident and admonishing "We're coming for you, Dave".

Show me the way to go

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If even Baroness Thatcher may have ended up with an EU badge on her lapel, who - you might well ask - will actually be leading the campaign for Britain's European exit?

The Sunday Express says a "cross-party supergroup", drawing on the persuasive powers of top businessmen as well as politicians, is to be unveiled this week.

The paper happily updates this new group with the news that an online poll shows that "92% of respondents" want to leave the EU. But, given that the poll was carried out among readers of the Eurosceptic paper's own website, it may be wise for the campaigners to conclude the race has still to be run.

The Sunday Express should be credited for allowing balanced debate to creep onto its pages, as it gives over a full page to allow Stuart Rose, leader of the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign group, to put forward reasons why the UK should remain in the EU. He writes: "Being at the top table with 27 close allies allows us to look countries like America and China in the eye at the negotiating table."

But who will be the political "big beasts" leading the "Leave" campaign? Sunday Times political columnist Adam Boulton says that both sides desperately want to sign up Boris Johnson. Boulton says the London mayor is spending too long "dithering" and should "take a risk and stand up and be counted".

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Image caption,
Priti Patel - poised to be a poster girl?

The Mail on Sunday questions Mr Johnson's Eurosceptic conviction and instead predicts the "telegenic Employment Minister Priti Patel" is the Cabinet minister who "WILL fight to leave the EU".

The paper claims that Ms Patel will make an announcement in the next few days and is set to become the "poster girl of the Out campaign".

The Sun on Sunday says that David Cameron has "begged" Justice Secretary Michael Gove not to join the "Leave" campaign. According to the paper's columnist Toby Young that just leaves "one senior Conservative with the balls to stand up to David Cameron and that's Theresa May".

Young ends his column with a rallying cry directed at Mrs May: "Come on, Boudicea. You're a lion surrounded by pygmies. It's time to give the roar to the British people, as Churchill did 75 years ago."

They said what?

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The Sunday papers' big-name interviewees include:

Terry Wogan (in his final interview before his death): "I don't believe in God but when the Grim Reaper turns up, I may well think 'Oh, just in case, let me leave an exit door open; maybe I do believe'." (Mail on Sunday)

Gaby Roslin, long-time TV co-host with Terry Wogan:"There was no question of not going to work last Sunday. Almost immediately I could hear his warm, lilting voice in my head, gently chiding: "What are you doing? Why would you be taking the afternoon off? Get on the show, it's only radio'." (Sunday Telegraph)

Conservative MP and former Cabinet stalwart Kenneth Clarke:"The public loves Boris but he has to answer the question, 'what would you do if you were prime minister'." (Independent)

Frank Bruno: "When I heard some young boxers and their promoters saying they could beat me, my pride kicked in and I felt a bit mugged off." (Sunday Mirror)

UKIP leader Nigel Farage:"There were times when I wondered if I would become the patron saint of lost causes. It's fantastic. The idea that you can put country before party, conscience before career - I love it." (Sunday Telegraph)

Jason Donovan:"Especially For You was written in Kylie's key. I always found it very high - you're breaking your balls to try and get there. Having said that, now I'm a better singer it's a lot easier for me to get my head around." (Observer magazine).

Big Brother winner Scotty T: "I'd like to get into films now. I've had a little bit of experience, I did drama at school. I'm going to nail it." (Daily Star Sunday)

Shadow culture secretary Maria Eagle: "I wanted to be a member of parliament from a younger age than you might imagine. I was five or six. It's like those kids you see in their football kits and then they grow up to be Messi." (Observer)

A weighty issue

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Britain has a "fat chance" of ever tackling its obesity problems, the front page of the Independent warns, and it's all because of failings at government level.

The paper has spoken to Dr Susan Jebb, who served as the government's obesity tsar until last year, and she warns that the strategy of targeting overweight children is doomed to fail. Instead, she says it is parents who need to be better educated.

A current government health adviser, Dame Carol Black, tells the paper the PM's suggestion that obese people should lose benefit payments, unless they seek treatment, could be counterproductive.

And Mr Cameron is given more food for thought in the Times, where campaigning chef Jamie Oliver urges the government to set clear targets for food and drink manufacturers to cut sugar levels and fine those who do not comply. He also says that more needs to be done on managing junk food ads on the internet and repeats his call for a sugar tax.

He warns: "I will not give up the fight. Maybe people will think I'm a broken record but if we don't act now, in 20 years time, we will be a nation too sick to compete in the world."

Queen cakes from the Queen

Jamie Oliver may wish to look away now, as the Sunday People reveals that, to mark her 90th birthday in April, the Queen has requested that free birthday cakes are handed out to 500 loyal subjects at the coffee shop on her Balmoral estate.

The Sunday Mirror has a bit more fun with its headline "Let them eat cupcakes" although it is likely Her Majesty might avoid such an Americanism and instead use the traditional British name of "fairy cakes" or (most appropriately) "queen cakes".

On matters royal, the Sunday Express reports that Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's one-week tour of India in April will include a visit to the Taj Mahal. The paper is quick to draw comparisons with a previous royal visit there and uses the headlines "Kate in Diana's footsteps" and "Kate to lay ghost of Diana to rest".

The Times also has a story about the late Princess of Wales. It says that Alexa Chung's much-vaunted new fashion collection for Marks and Spencers includes a "pie crust" collar blouse - a "favourite style of the princess". It also notes that young fashionista Poppy Delevingne was seen out and about during the week in a silk chiffon floral maxi dress that bore an "uncanny resemblence" to the outfit that Diana was famously pictured wearing when she worked as a nursery assistant prior to her marriage.

Another London fashion label, Preen, tells the paper that the late princess is the inspiration for its current collection, adding: "It's about the early 1980s and the nation's sweetheart, Princess Diana."

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