Legalise all drugs: chief constable demands end to 'immoral laws' is the front page of the Independent this morning

One of Britain's most senior police officers is to call for all drugs – including heroin and cocaine – to be legalised and urges the Government to declare an end to the "failed" war on illegal narcotics.
Richard Brunstrom, the Chief Constable of North Wales, advocates an end to UK drug policy based on "prohibition". His comments come as the Home Office this week ends the process of gathering expert advice looking at the next 10 years of strategy.
In his radical analysis, which he will present to the North Wales Police Authority today, Mr Brunstrom points out that illegal drugs are now cheaper and more plentiful than ever before.

Its leading article refers to the bold attempt to clear confusion

This is brave talk. It is likely to be met with the usual knee-jerk dismissal that such recommendations habitually attract. But, as more and more thoughtful people adopt this view, is it not time to consider the chief constable's views on their merits? There has been a tendency to believe that the only people qualified to challenge current orthodoxy on drugs policy are those familiar with the gritty inner city. If the police chief in a predominantly rural region – itself not immune to drug problems – believes the law as it stands is having a perverse effect, surely this is a sign that the blight of addiction warrants a new approach.

Across the papers a mixture of headlines this morning,

THE RISE OF THE NHS DENTIST is the Mail's lead

The parlous state of NHS dentistry was exposed yesterday.
Such is the shortage of state-funded dentists that one in 20 patients has resorted to DIY treatment, in some cases pulling out their own teeth.
One in five has gone without treatment because of the cost.
And of those who have registered with a private dentist, three-quarters did so only because their surgery stopped providing NHS treatment or they could not find an NHS dentist to register with.

'Patients treat themselves' as NHS dentists dwindle says the Independent


The Times stays with health issues

Male infertility alert over hidden bacteria

Chlamydia, the sexually transmitted infection (STI) carried by one in ten sexually-active young British adults can make men infertile by damaging the quality of their sperm, new research has shown.
While the condition, which usually passes undetected, has long been known to threaten female fertility, scientists from Spain and Mexico have now established that it presents similar risks for men

As does the Guardian

Schools told to tackle teenage obesity crisis

Schools should be doing more to convince teenage girls to take part in sport including scrapping "embarrassing" gym kits and offering alternative activities such as frisbee and yoga sessions in an effort to halt the growing obesity crisis, the secretary of state for families has told the Guardian.
Ed Balls said it was also up to parents to do more to tackle their children's obesity and academic underachievement, and the government cannot improve children's lives without their help.

The Telegraph reports that

Labour to scrap national road pricing plans

The Government has bowed to the groundswell of opposition which saw 1.8 million people back a Downing Street petition and a campaign by The Daily Telegraph calling for the proposals to be ditched.The sudden reversal on road pricing is the latest in a series of flagship policies advocated by Tony Blair to have been scrapped by Gordon Brown.
It follows the decision to abandon plans for a "super casino" and to review the current laws on cannabis and all-day drinking.

The weekends political news continues to dominate,the Mirror reporting

Gordon Brown under fire
Worst poll for 15 years Blairites stick knife in

Gordon Brown is to launch a new policy counter-offensive after suffering his worst fortnight since taking power.
The Premier is under intense pressure following a Tory savaging in the polls and damning accusations by Tony Blair loyalists that he is offering "drift not leadership".
In an attempt to get back on the front foot, he now plans to unveil a raft of initiatives on schools, health, education, housing and policing in the run-up to Christmas

Blairites serve notice on Brown to do better after horrendous fortnight says the Guardian

Some senior figures, speaking on condition of anonymity, insisted they were not planning an imminent media offensive and were prepared to rally behind the prime minister. But they indicated they would act unless Mr Brown restored Labour's sense of political direction in a way they approved of. "The last few days do their own talking without anybody else helping it," said one.

Many of the papers carry the story of

Briton drowns in Thai cave saving girlfriend

The Telegraph reports

A young British woman was the lone survivor of a flash flood that swept her boyfriend and seven other tourists to their deaths in a cave in southern Thailand.Helena Carroll, 21, of Solihull, Birmingham, told how she was left clinging to a ledge for hours after the freak wave washed through Nam Talu cave in Khao Sok national park.
The dead included her fiance, John Cullen, 24, a Swiss couple and their two teenage daughters, a 10-year-old German boy and two Thai guides.

Both the Sun and the Express report on the latest Maddy developments

POLICE SEARCH LAKE FOR BODY says the front page of the Express

Police divers were last night preparing to trawl a reservoir in the hunt for Madeleine McCann.
Detectives believe her body may have been weighed down with rocks and dumped in the Barragem de Bravura lake, nine miles from Praia da Luz.
The search is one of a series to be carried out in the next few days, a Portuguese newspaper claimed yesterday.

The Sun reports that

MISSING Maddie McCann’s parents were last night said to be “dismayed but realistic” that Portuguese cops are focusing on finding her dead.
Gerry and Kate McCann learned yesterday of the plan to drag the desolate Barragem da Bravura lake – dubbed the “Reservoir of the Wilderness”.

JONNY BE GOD is the front page of the Mirror as the papers celebrate England's win on Saturday

The man with the magic boot did it again - and all England was still celebrating yesterday.
Jonny Wilkinson kicked the points that clinched victory over France in Saturday's rugby World Cup semi-final.
He delighted an army of England fans, including Prince Harry and Mick Jagger - and left French hardmen like Sebastien Chabal in tears. Last night Jonny, 28, was relaxing with girlfriend Shelley Jenkins - and looking forward to Saturday's final with South Africa

The great ticket scrum: England's heroes spark rugby fever reports the Mail

Tickets for England's clash with South Africa were changing hands for between £1,000 and £4,000 each - up to 13 times their face value.
With rugby fever sweeping the nation, one confident eBay seller put up his pair of tickets with an astonishing reserve price of £9,999. So far last night there had been no takers.

ROYAL MASCOT VOWS SUPPORT says the Sun

PRINCE Harry has vowed to cheer England to World Cup glory against South Africa — after being told by our rugby heroes: “You’re our lucky mascot.”
Harry, 23, will be at next Saturday’s Paris final hoping England can take revenge for a 36-0 defeat by the Springboks earlier in the tournament.

The Times reports on the

The UHT route to long-life planet

It’s enough to put the nation off breakfast. Civil servants have suggested that Britons put long-life milk in tea and pour it on their cornflakes to save the planet from global warming.
Officials at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have made a serious proposal that consumers switch to UHT (Ultra-High Temperature or Ultra-Heat Treated) milk to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The Telegraph reveals that

Israel strike 'targeted Syrian nuclear reactor'

Israel's secretive air strike inside Syria last month was directed at a site judged by Israeli and US intelligence analysts to be a partly constructed nuclear reactor, according to a report.Officials said the reactor was modelled on one in North Korea used for stockpiling nuclear weapons fuel but was in the early stages of development


Brown's plan for Zimbabwe envoy splits EU nations reports the Independent

Britain is at the centre of a diplomatic row over Gordon Brown's proposal to send an EU envoy to Zimbabwe ahead of a landmark EU summit with African states to asses human rights abuses under President Robert Mugabe. The divisive issue of the envoy will be discussed by EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg today. Diplomatic sources say Germany is opposed to the idea while Nordic states agree with Mr Brown.

Threat to kill Putin during trip to Iran says the Guardian

Russia's security services last night claimed they had uncovered a plot to assassinate President Vladimir Putin during his trip this week to Iran.
Suicide bombers were planning to blow up Mr Putin, Interfax news agency said, citing a source in Russia's security agencies. Terrorists had been trained to kill the president, the source added.
The Kremlin last night confirmed that Mr Putin, who was on his way to Germany to meet chancellor Angela Merkel, had been informed of the alleged plot.


Tough new tests for Oxbridge entrants reports the Telegraph

Pupils trying to get into Oxford and Cambridge will face a battery of entrance tests amid persistent fears that A-levels are failing to identify the brightest candidates.
For the first time, students applying to study English and philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) at Oxford will sit an entrance exam. It recently introduced aptitude tests in physics, history, mathematics and computer science.

The Sun claims

THE prime suspect for the murder of Rhys Jones is boasting that he gunned down the 11-year-old, The Sun can reveal.
The teenager threatened another lad, sneering: “Yeah, I shot him. So what? I’ll fill your face with lead too.”
Locals are horrified the thug is still swaggering around Liverpool’s streets.
One said: “Surely the police can do something, he’s laughing in their faces. Everyone knows he did it.
“He’s so cocky. When police cars drive past, he jokes that the ‘bizzies’ can’t prove he did it.”

Riot police storm pub after a smoker lights up in protest to the ban reports the Mail

It wasn't exactly the dramatic finale one cricket fan was expecting.
Having installed himself in his local pub to watch England play India, John Vaughan was enraged when the channel was switched over to football just as the cricket was reaching its thrilling conclusion.
So Mr Vaughan lit up a cigarette in protest. When he refused to extinguish it, staff pressed a panic button behind the bar.
And a few minutes later six riot police officers wearing protective gear stormed the pub.

Sex, lies and videotape: turmoil at the Vatican reports the Guardian

The Vatican was last night at the centre of an unusually public sex scandal after acknowledging it had suspended a senior official who was filmed apparently propositioning a young man in his office.
Monsignor Tommaso Stenico, a capo ufficio, or section head, at the Vatican ministry responsible for the clergy, insisted yesterday he was not gay. He said he had posed as a homosexual to research a plot by satanists.




How the battle of Whitstable became a struggle for the soul of seaside resorts reports the Indy

The plans to regenerate the South Quay in Whitstable, which has undergone a renaissance in the past decade from a dowdy working town to the chic seaside location of choice for downshifting Londoners and day-trippers, have sparked a furious response from residents and visitors alike, who fear it will irrevocably damage the harbour. Some 16,000 people in a town with a population of less than 30,000 have signed a petition condemning the proposals put forward by the local authority.




Finally the Mirror,staying with the seaside theme reports that

Ooh, we don't like to be beside the Teesside..

It doesn't often come top of anything... but yesterday Middlesbrough soared to No1 in the list of the worst places to live.
Low wages, high crime, binge drinking, drug problems and poor education results were all blamed for its top spot in this year's study.
The town - birthplace of Captain James Cook - rose five places to dethrone last year's number one, the London borough of Hackney. Hull was second and Newham, East London, third.
And the poll appears to agree with former Middlesbrough FC star Szilard Nemeth, who once said: "Middlesbrough is very bad. It is not a nice town and there are a lot of factories."