Both the Mail and the Express claim victory this morning in the battle over Inheritence tax on their front pages



DAILY Express readers achieved a spectacular victory against Gordon Brown’s unjust inheritance tax yesterday when the Tories sounded “the death knell for the death tax”.
Conservative Shadow Chancellor George Osborne committed his party to hiking the death duty threshold to £1million.
The radical move – inspired by the Daily Express’s crusade against the punitive raids on family savings and assets – would free nine million households from the crippling stealth tax used by Mr Brown over the past decade to squeeze Middle Britain.

Tories' pledge to free 9 million families from death tax headlines the Mail

The Tory fightback exploded into life as George Osborne announced that only estates worth more than £1million will be liable for inheritance tax if his party wins power.

Whilst reporting that

Tories launch assault on 'bank manager' Brown in battle for middle class votes

The Shadow Chancellor sought to paint the Prime Minister as a politician who is the "antithesis of our age", claiming he clung to an old-fashioned belief that he could "command, control, dictate, regulate and tax".
He called on voters to "close their account" with the "nation's bank manager".

Election battle lines drawn as Tories defend tax plans says the Guardian

The Conservatives' flagship policy on inheritance tax was under sustained attack last night as independent experts and a Treasury analysis raised questions over whether it could be funded properly by hitting a wealthy elite with a flat-rate charge of £25,000. Labour claimed the hole in the Tory figures could be as large as £3bn

first shots in the battle for votes says the Times

Plans for an autumn general election were being stepped up last night after proposals to exclude all but millionaires from paying inheritance tax electrified the Tory conference.
Tax was thrown into the centre of the election battleground as Labour claimed that the Tories could not afford George Osborne’s proposal to raise the inheritance tax threshold from £300,000 to £1 million.

The paper adding that

The tax pledge came as the unions began to mobilise in preparation for a snap election, The Times has learnt. Labour has moved to ask the biggest unions to pay next year’s party affiliation fees now, bringing in £6 million at once, as well as activating their call centres this weekend. Some senior union sources believe Mr Brown will announce an election next Tuesday.

Union leaders gear up for election reports the Mirror

Its leaders called in at No10 yesterday afternoon as an email, leaked to the Mirror, was putting the union's employees on an election war footing.

The email, signed by both men, said: "As Labour's largest affiliate we must be in a position to play a leading role in re-electing Labour and defeating the Tories." It also reveals the union's campaign will be run by its new political director Charlie Whelan - Mr Brown's spin doctor when he was at No11.


The Telegraph takes a different lead with the news that

Gordon Brown to signal cut in Iraq troops

Gordon Brown will pave the way for a substantial reduction in the number of British troops in Iraq by early next year when MPs return to Parliament on Monday, The Daily Telegraph has learnt. adding that

The news will heighten speculation that the Prime Minister is preparing to call an autumn election at a time when thousands of soldiers and their families are buoyed by the prospect of their return home.

The Independent leads with what it calls

The callous hypocrisy of our asylum system

Gordon Brown has been accused of failing to match words with deeds when it comes to standing up for refugees fleeing some of the world's worst tyrannies.

At the Labour Party conference last week, Mr Brown promised to stand up for those suffering persecution in Burma, Darfur and Zimbabwe, singling those regimes out as the world's "darkest corners" and adding that "human rights are universal".
Yet the Home Office is continuing to reject applications for refuge from Burmese dissidents and is embroiled in protracted court battles to enable the enforced removals of Zimbabweans and Darfuris.

The paper keeps up the pressure on Burma claiming

Monks vanish as Burmese troops step up presence

The gates were open at Rangoon's glittering Shwedagon temple yesterday but soldiers, not monks, wandered its marble-floored shrines and pavilions.
Five days after Burma's military leaders began a crackdown on protesting monks and their civilian supporters, the red-robed Buddhist clergy, normally seen in their thousands around the city, have vanished. And the UN's special envoy sent to confront the military junta was stalled for yet another day.
"The monks are gone. We are worried about them. We don't know where they are," said a young guide at the temple. Usually hundreds of monks would be milling around the golden, bell-shaped, stupa – praying, chatting quietly in groups or explaining the significance of gem-encrusted statues or shrines to visitors.

UN envoy to meet Burmese leader after delay says the Guardian

The UN special envoy seeking a resolution to the bloody crisis in Burma is to meet the regime's top general today to deliver a tough message that the killings which left at least 13 protesters dead must stop.
But yesterday Ibrahim Gambari, a former Nigerian foreign minister, was stalled for a day and forced to fill in his time visiting a remote corner of Burma courtesy of the military as tensions remained following 12 days of demonstrations that represented the most concerted challenge to the junta's rule since 1988.

The paper reports on the first day of the De Menzes inquiry

Series of errors by police led to tube shooting, court told

A police officer identified Jean Charles de Menezes to armed colleagues shouting "here he is" moments before the 27-year-old electrician was shot seven times in the head in front of horrified commuters, a court heard yesterday.
A trial at the Old Bailey heard that surveillance officers had followed the Brazilian from his house in south London on to the tube train at Stockwell station, believing he was linked to attempted terrorist attacks in the capital the previous day, July 21 2005.

Commanders 'couldn't concentrate amid chaos in control room says the Times

New Scotland Yard’s operations control room was a scene of chaos, confusion and indecision on the day that its officers shot dead an innocent man on the Tube, the Old Bailey heard yesterday.
Room 1600 was supposed to be the nerve centre from which senior officers directed a fast-moving operation to catch four would-be suicide bombers. Instead, it was noisy and overcrowded, with radio operators unable to hear transmissions from frontline officers and commanding officers unclear about what was happening.

Both the Mirror and the Sun report on an incident with Steven Gerrard on their front pages this morning

Steven Gerrard runs down boy, 10 says the Mirror

Steven Gerrard was visibly distraught yesterday as he comforted a boy of 10 who ran into the side of his car.
As soon as he realised what had happened, the England star pulled up in his £175,000 Bentley Continental Convertible and rushed to help injured Jamie Hellawell.
One passer-by said: "He was clearly shocked. He was in tears as he crouched on the ground chatting to the lad until an ambulance arrived."

The Sun claiming an "exclusive"

SHAKING Steven Gerrard told mums after knocking down a boy of ten outside a school yesterday: “The lad just came out of nowhere.”
The England soccer hero screeched to a halt in his Bentley and dashed to comfort pupil Jamie Halliwell as the lad lay in agony with a smashed leg.
Nurses among a crowd of mums picking their kids up from school gave the boy first aid as Gerrard, 27, held his hand until an ambulance arrived.

The paper ,as many, reports that

Britney loses custody of kids

FAMILY and pals of distraught pop star Britney Spears last night feared she may kill herself after a judge took her children away.
Britney’s mother Lynne was desperately trying to contact her — to beg her not to do anything silly.In a hammer blow in the singer’s custody battle, Judge Scott Gordon ordered druggie Britney, 25, to hand her two kids to her ex Kevin Federline.

The Telegraph says

In a closed session, Judge Scott Gordon ruled the troubled pop star must hand over Sean Preston, two, and Jayden James, one, by noon on Wednesday and that Federline would "retain physical custody ... until further notice of the court".
Mr Gordon did not set out the reasons for his decision in the written ruling but it came 10 days after Spears was charged with a hit and run accident and driving without a valid licence.

The paper reports that

Veteran broadcaster Ned Sherrin dies of cancer

The 76-year-old, who had been battling throat cancer since last year, died peacefully at his home in Chelsea at 3.30pm. Sherrin was born to a farming family in Somerset and was educated at Exeter College, Oxford, where he put on plays with the then unknown actress Maggie Smith.
He was called to the bar in 1955, but turned his back on law to become a television producer for ATV. He moved to the BBC two years later.
Sherrin said his proudest achievement was the groundbreaking satire show That Was The Week That Was, which launched the career of David Frost in 1962.


The Independent says

Sherrin built up a following of millions of fans from as the presenter of Loose Ends, a weekly mix of comedy, conversation and music, and went on to host the music quiz Counterpoint, also on Radio 4. Mr Arlon, who managed the entertainer for 35 years, described him as "one of the great bons viveurs of the world, with a tremendous ability to enjoy".

Barred from another term as president, Putin charts way back to power - as prime minister reports the Guardian

Vladimir Putin yesterday gave the strongest hint yet that he will remain at the centre of power in Russia for the forseeable future, saying the possibility of him becoming prime minister after the presidential election in March was "entirely realistic".
The president, who has stressed his wish to stay involved in high-level politics, cannot seek a third term under the constitution, but there is nothing to prevent him becoming prime minister. He could then return for a non-consecutive, and legal, third term as president in 2012.

NHS is 17th in Europe-wide poll of patients reports the Telegraph

Britain's health system is among the worst in Europe, according to a survey.
The poll of all EU member states plus Switzerland and Norway ranks Britain 17th out of 29 countries for patient satisfaction.
Its rating was dragged down by waiting lists, MRSA infection rates, access to cancer drugs and dentists as well as cancer survival rates.

Healthcare in Estonia is better than Britain's NHS, says damning report is the Mail's comment on that

The study found that the Health Service is still one of Europe's worst healthcare providers, in the same league as countries such as Slovenia and Hungary which spend far less on health.

Maddy is knocked off the front pages but still lurks

MADELEINE: NOW PSYCHICS USED IN HUNT reports the Express

The admission came as it was revealed police officers investigating Madeleine’s disappearance have checked about 150 statements sent by mediums who claim to have had visions of her abduction.
Sources close to the family said detectives could not dismiss any information in case it was the work of the abductor.

Madeleine must have been drugged, says Gran says the Mirror

Madeleine McCann may have been drugged by her abductor to stop her crying out as she was taken, her grandmother said last night.
Eileen McCann, 69, thinks it is the only way she could have been snatched from the holiday apartment without her screams of alarm attracting attention.
She said: "I believe whoever took her gave her a drug. There is no way they carried her out of there without her waking.

The Guardian reveals that

Most children hazy on origins of UK food

Britain's children are unable to tell the origins of traditional fare such as cheddar cheese or haggis, a survey has found. More than half (54%) are unaware that pasties are from Cornwall, or that haggis is from Scotland (57%), while 80% do not know that hotpot hails from Lancashire.
Many youngsters also cannot tell which foods originate in their own areas, according to research for British food fortnight. One in five (19%) children in the south-west believe cheddar comes from the Midlands, rather than Somerset, while 13% of those in the north-west think that hotpot comes from London. In addition, only 39% of children in the north-west know that the humble eccles cake is from Manchester.


Judge's txt: 'U r a luvly sh*g' reports the Sun

SEXY Roselane Driza has told how her judge lover bombarded her with saucy texts and greeting cards during their red-hot affair.
Mohammed Ilyas Khan, 61, sent explicit notes from his chambers before delivering verdicts on immigration trials.
In one he sent to Roselane’s mobile, he said: “You are a lovely sh*g.”
Cleaner Roselane, 37, giggled as she told The Sun that detectives blushed when they read the X-rated messages during police interviews with her.

Tennis trainer denies lesbian affair reports the Mirror

A shocked mum walked in on her 13-year-old daughter romping in bed with her female tennis coach, a court was told yesterday.
When she came home she spotted two pairs of tennis shoes outside the child's bedroom.
And as she pushed the door open they were naked in bed and involved in a sex act, it is alleged.
The girl, who cannot be named, and former professional player Claire Lyte, 29, had just returned from a competition before apparently going to bed together.

Finally the Mail reports on the

Yorkshire villagers baffled by the 'Da Vinci Code' mystery of the invading stone heads

At dead of night he comes, clutching his head in his hands.
But the head he holds is made of stone - and so far, the mystery interloper has dumped at least 13 of his curious carvings at various locations 90 miles apart across the Yorkshire countryside.
They all accompanied by the same intriguing handwritten rhyme and mystic symbol.