Friday's papers.

The latest political scandal surrounds the perks given to civil servants and catches the attention of many of the papers.

Senior civil servants responsible for contracts worth billions of pounds accepted tickets to Wimbledon, the Chelsea Flower Show and the opera from firms carrying out government work.

reports the Times.

The Mail leads with the story as well reporting that Sir Brian Bender, one of the highest-ranking men in Whitehall, accepted invitations to 52 events, an average of one a week.

A civil servant makes the front of the Telegraph though for different reasons as the paper reports that

In an extraordinary outburst, Prof Smith, the second highest-ranked official at the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, said plans for new diploma qualifications to replace A-levels were "slightly schizophrenic".

Many of the papers report on the banning of Dutch polititian Geert Wilders from entering Britain yesterday,the Independent calls it an own goal by the British Government

The Guardian reports that

Wilders was due to show his 17-minute film Fitna, which criticises the Qur'an as a "fascist book", at the House of Lords today. But on Tuesday he received a letter from the Home Office refusing him entry because his opinions "threaten community harmony and therefore public safety".

Its lead though is that figures released yesterday reveal the cost of Britain's military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq this financial year has soared to more than £4.5bn, an annual increase of more than 50%.

The Independent leads with the news that in a landmark settlement, a Congolese family have been awarded £150,000, believed to be the biggest payout over the unlawful detention of child refugees seeking asylum in Britain.

The Express is not happy with the news that a new £7.5billion high speed rail network will create just 500 posts in this country.The paper adds that

Critics slammed the “crass” decision to hand a Japanese firm the contract to build the 125mph Super Express Trains

Finally the Sun's front page reports on the case of a 13 year old father.The paper reports that

BOY dad Alfie Patten yesterday admitted he does not know how much nappies cost — but said: “I think it’s a lot.”
Baby-faced Alfie, who is 13 but looks more like eight, became a father four days ago when his girlfriend Chantelle Steadman gave birth to 7lb 3oz Maisie Roxanne.