Both the Guardian and the Telegraph share the same story this morning

David Cameron accused the Government of "planning a secret tax bombshell" after official documents disclosed that ministers prepared to increase VAT to 18.5 per cent after the next election says the Telegraph adding that

Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, announced on Monday in his pre-Budget report that VAT would be cut by 2 per cent from 17.5 per cent for 13 months. In January 2010 the rate of VAT will revert to 17.5 per cent.
However, a legal document laid before Parliament states that VAT will "subsequently increase to 18.5 per cent in 2011-12". It is signed by Stephen Timms, a junior Treasury Minister.

The Guardian says that

The Treasury was last night forced to deny that Alistair Darling was drawing up secret plans to raise VAT to 18.5% in the next parliament in an attempt to fill the black hole in the government's finances created by the recession and the massive stimulus package announced on Monday.
Officials insisted that a document outlining an intention to raise VAT to a record rate had been put on a website by mistake, and the chancellor had rejected the idea before Monday's pre-budget report.

The Express also leads with the story

Secret plans for swingeing rises in council tax and VAT were exposed in Treasury documents last night.
Budget details revealed that ministers expect council tax to rocket by an inflation-busting 10 per cent over the next two years


Meanwhile the Mail reports on a cut-throat Christmas

Stores are going head to head in a savage Christmas price war.
Desperate to get families to open their wallets, supermarkets and retailers are falling over each other to offer discounts.
From today, Tesco is cutting prices by up to 50 per cent on 1,000 lines including bicycles, cameras and digital music players.

Price-cut frenzy in sales war says the Telegraph adding that

Synovate Retail Performance, a market research company, predicted that the number of shopping trips across Britain would fall by 7.3 per cent next month compared with last December. Tim Denison, a spokesman, said: "Lack of confidence and heightened concerns over job security seem to be uppermost in influencing attitudes and behaviour, taking precedence over falls in energy and fuel prices, interest rates and VAT.

The Guardian reports that

US pumps another $800bn into mortgage and credit markets

US authorities escalated their economic firefighting programme yesterday by pumping $800bn (£500bn) into the mortgage and consumer credit markets, amid further confirmation of a rapidly deteriorating outlook.
The latest move exceeds the $700bn troubled asset relief programme, or Tarp, that performed a taxpayer-backed rescue on the US banking system and, according to economists, underlines how the credit crisis has spread from the corporate to the consumer sphere

Both the Times and the Independent also have the same lead story

A major investigation has been launched into the failings of police and social services in two counties after a man was jailed for raping his two daughters and fathering nine of his own grandchildren.
The 56-year-old businessman from Sheffield held his daughters virtual prisoners for 25 years, moving them around houses in South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire to avoid detection. reorts the former

The Independent says that

An urgent review is under way into how it was that 10 of the children conceived by the women – who had been repeatedly beaten, abused and raped since the age of eight and 10 – were miscarried or terminated, yet their mothers' plight failed to come to the attention of welfare workers.
Judge Alan Goldsack QC said: "As a result of this case, questions will inevitably be asked about what professionals, social and medical workers, have been doing for the last 20 years."

On a similar subject the Sun says Thanks a Million to its readers

THE Sun’s petition demanding justice for Baby P rocketed past a MILLION signatures last night.
A record 1,146,000 share our outrage and back our crusade for those who failed the tortured tot to be fired.The message to Gordon Brown could not be clearer as The Sun today delivers its million-plus petition for Baby P’s social workers to be sacked: The PEOPLE have spoken.

Many of the papers report on the protests at Bangkok airport

British holidaymakers trying to return home have been stranded in Bangkok after the country's main airport was occupied by anti-government protesters.
With all flights in and out of the Thai capital cancelled, around 3,000 passengers are crowding the $4 billion terminal, a regional hub and the gateway for 40 million passengers a year.
Amid scenes of chaos, tourists camped on the airport floors complained they'd had nothing to eat or drink since the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) stormed the airport late night. Today, the protesters took over the control tower and said airlines would have to ask permission from them to land says the Times

According to the Independent

Tribal chiefs offered UK 'bribes' to fight Taliban

Britain plans to pay tribal elders in Helmand province monthly cash "bribes" as part of a controversial "Afghan Awakening" scheme to raise the tribes against the Taliban.
British officials in Kabul are bankrolling an Afghan initiative to pay community leaders monthly wages to get them talking to the government.

The Sun reports that

THE father of murdered 17-year-old Hannah Foster yesterday said her killer should DIE in jail.
Heartbroken Trevor Foster, who believes in the death penalty, spoke out after sex beast Maninder Pal Singh Kohli was given a 24-year sentence.

'We were a normal family. Then he ripped out my heart'reports the Guardian

Maninder Pal Singh Kohli was sentenced to life yesterday for the kidnap, murder and rape of 17-year-old Hannah Foster, five and a half years after her death. Yesterday in court her aunt, Jill Lewis, read this powerful victim impact statement written by Hannah's mother, Hilary.

Pubs and clubs told to bring an end to happy hours reports the Times

The Government is considering the introduction of cigarette-style health warnings on bottles and cans containing alcoholic drinks. Ministers also want television adverts for alcohol to carry warnings of the danger of drinking to excess.
The new regulations to deal with excessive drinking and to tackle alcohol-prompted violence and disorder are contained in a code of practice to be imposed on the drinks industry. Whitehall has recommended that the code be mandatory but a final decision has yet to be taken by the Prime Minister, The Times has learnt

According to the Express

Britain's first NHS clinic for gambling addicts opened yesterday – close to three casinos.
The National Problem Gambling Clinic will treat some of Britain’s 250,000 addicts.
But its location in London’s Soho and about 300 yards from three big casinos raised eyebrows


Many of the papers carry the story of the Primary school teacher 'spent up to four hours on Facebook and eBay during lessons'

Sian Mediana, 40, was surfing the internet on the class computer for up to four hours a day while her pupils sat feet away.
The disciplinary hearing was told that during lessons she bought and sold goods on eBay, went to social networking sites such as Facebook and did her online banking. reports the Mail

Finally the Telegraph reports that

Stress of modern life cuts attention spans to five minutes

The pressures of modern life are affecting our ability to focus on the task in hand, with work stress cited as the major distraction, it said.
Declining attention spans are causing household accidents such as pans being left to boil over on the hob, baths allowed to overflow, and freezer doors left open, the survey suggests.
A quarter of people polled said they regularly forget the names of close friends or relatives, and seven per cent even admitted to momentarily forgetting their own birthdays.