The number of mid-sized cars, such as the Ford Focus, sold during May dropped by 8.3 per cent compared to May 2007 while the number of new 4x4s fell sharply by 18.3 per cent.The sales figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) provide the first hard evidence of the impact the Government's controversial changes to vehicle excise duty (VED).
On the motoring theme the Express leads with Oil is cheaper so cut petrol prices
GREEDY petrol companies were accused of profiteering yesterday as pump prices continued to soar – but the cost of oil fell dramatically.
The price of a barrel of oil and the wholesale cost of diesel have both dropped by around 10 per cent in the past two weeks.
But suppliers are refusing to pass on the benefits. Analysts said diesel should be at least 7p a litre cheaper by tomorrow. But last night diesel and petrol continued their relentless rise, with the average pump price climbing to almost £1.30 and £1.17 a litre.
Across the other papers,a variety of headlines.
Tories' Brussels enforcer quits over £½m expenses reports the Guardian
Giles Chichester, who three months ago was charged by David Cameron with the role of ensuring that Tory MEPs were behaving scrupulously, stood down in Brussels after being found, over the past 12 years, to have transferred the funds, which came from MEP's allowances, to a company of which he was a director.
The Times adds
Mr Chichester’s decision to quit followed a day of furious behind-the-scenes exchanges as Conservative central office insisted on his departure. Mr Cameron’s senior officials were desperate to prevent a resurgence of headlines about Tory sleaze that could damage the party’s commanding lead over Labour.
It leads with the 42 day detention row
Gordon Brown’s case for holding terrorism suspects without charge for 42 days is bogus and little more than scaremongering, according to Sir John Major.
The former Conservative Prime Minister, writing in The Times today, said that Mr Brown’s security measures were more likely to encourage terrorist recruitment than defeat the extremist threat to Britain
Blair backs Brown, but his private view is less supportive reports the Independent
In public, Tony Blair rallied behind his successor yesterday, saying Gordon Brown could not be blamed for Britain's economic woes that are beyond his control.
"I said when I left I was going to be 100 per cent supportive of Gordon and the Government and that's what I continue to be, totally and completely, because I know it's a difficult job," Mr Blair said on a rare foray back into British politics.
But, in private, close confidants of Mr Blair say his view is slightly different. He is exasperated by the problems engulfing Labour. Asked what he really felt about Mr Brown's performance, one close ally replied: "I told you so."
The Telegraph claims
Barclays uses US anti-terror laws to close British citizens' accounts
The bank, which has considerable business interests in the US, is using guidelines drawn up under the Patriot Act to target firms which have not broken any laws in the UK.
The development emerged after a letter, which was written to lawyers representing employees of the Iranian-owned Bank Saderat and Melli Bank, was leaked to The Times newspaper.
March of the cloned cows is the headline in the Mail
Eight 'clone farm' cows have been born in the UK, the Daily Mail can reveal.
Their mother is a clone – created in a U.S. laboratory with cells taken from the ear of a prize-winning animal.
Meat or milk from the calves, flown into Britain as frozen embryos and implanted into a surrogate, could be on sale here within months. Though food from clones is barred from the food chain, there are no legal safeguards over their offspring.
Meanwhile the Guardian reports that
Food summit fails to agree on biofuels
World leaders last night ended a summit on the global food crisis without an agreement on biofuels, leaving unadopted a plan to ensure the crops are not produced at the expense of the world's 850 million hungry.
A draft declaration warned that food prices would "remain high in the years to come" and called for "urgent and coordinated action" to alleviate the impact on the poor. However, the summit, convened to address "the challenges of climate change and bioenergy", had little to say about either.
Most of the papers carry prominently the story that the
September 11 'mastermind' requests death penalty
The self-confessed mastermind of the September 11 attacks asked to be sentenced to death so he could become a "martyr", at the start of a trial process for five leading al-Qa'eda suspects.Appearing in public for the first time after five years in captivity, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed told Col Ralph Kohlmann, a US military judge, that death was "my wish".says the Telegraph
The Independent reports on the New face of power in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe's crisis deepened significantly last night as the country's leaders ordered the indefinite suspension of aid distribution, while a group of US and British diplomats were detained at gunpoint by thugs of the Mugabe regime.
A senior Western diplomat told journalists in London that Zimbabwe was now being run by a military junta, locked in an embrace with President Robert Mugabe. Asked if we have already seen a coup in Zimbabwe ahead of the run-off presidential election in three weeks' time, the diplomat said: "Yes we have. This is a junta," referring to the shadowy Joint Operations Command. "These are the people who have actually kept Mugabe in power."
Hillary Clinton meets Barack Obama for private talks reports the Times
after a day in which the former First Lady had been forced to quell speculation that she was trying to force her way on to the nomination as his vice-presidential running mate.
The two candidates, who have fought an intense and sometimes bitter battle for their party's nomination, met at Mrs Clinton's home in Washington following Mr Obama's evening rally in nearby Northern Virginia. The talks were reported to have been at her request.
Who'd be the best president for us asks the Mirror
Let battle commence. Obama v McCain. With Hillary finally leaving the ring, the opening bell in the title championship officially rang yesterday.
It is a contest of contrasts: Black versus white. Youth versus age.
American Cool versus American Hero. Chicago lawyer against Arizona desert warrior. The Republican strategy is already apparent: Obama - the naive, untried "pointy-headed" intellectual out of step with America's mainstream. A gamble too far.
Back to the Uk and the same paper leads with £130m lucky dip
Free swimming for all is announced today as the Government launches a drive for Britain to make a bigger splash in international sport.
Culture Secretary Andy Burnham will unveil £130million plans to make all council swimming pools free by 2012.
The Independent leads with the Final battle
A small group of old men will gather on the beaches of Normandy today – a handful of the 3,000 survivors of Britain's own "Band of Brothers". Many hundreds of other veterans, such as Bert Bowden in Bristol, will spend the 64th anniversary of D-Day at home, unable to join the men, living and dead, who they still regard as their "own family."
As the Government faced new questions yesterday about how it pays soldiers who are serving in today's war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan, in this corner of France on the D-Day anniversary, questions were being asked about how much Britain as a nation values its veterans of six decades ago.
Silent Witness reports the Sun
A MUM sobbed over her Jehovah’s Witness hubby as he fought for life last night — but still refused to let him have a life-saving blood transfusion.
Sheila Edwards insisted that horrifically-injured hubby John, 57, would not want doctors to give him blood because their religious faith bans it.
But her agonising decision has left the family in a nightmare situation.
Their sons Jonathan, 36, and Tom, 29, do NOT share their parents’ beliefs and can only look on helplessly as John lies close to death.
The Telegraph reports that the
Norovirus hits Ventura cruise liner
P&O Cruises, which operates the superliner, said around 20 people had fallen ill with the bug, also known as the winter vomiting virus.
Passengers on board the ship ,which was officially named in April by the actress Dame Helen Mirren, have been warned not to use public lavatories on board and to take extra precautions with cleanliness.
Death by postcode reports the Mail
A baby girl on the 'at risk' register was shaken to death by her violent father after he evaded social services monitoring by moving two miles to a different local authority area.
An urgent inquiry is under way into the care of Elisha Allen, who was classified as a 'vulnerable' child even before she was born.
At the heart of the investigation is whether vital case notes were forwarded to the new local authority after her parents moved from Penshaw, Sunderland, to Bournmoor in neighbouring County Durham.
The Guardian reports that
House prices are falling more rapidly than at any time since the early 1990s property crash, according to figures released by the Halifax yesterday.
Amid City fears that the Bank of England's decision yesterday to peg the cost of borrowing at 5% could push the economy into recession, the Halifax, Britain's biggest mortgage lender, reported that the cost of a home fell by 2.4% in May, wiping almost £5,000 off the cost of an average house.
'Rich List' tycoon is jailed for £350m fraud reports the Independent
Three businessmen at the centre of one of the biggest and longest-running frauds in banking history received stiff prison sentences yesterday after their £350m edifice of deceit was brought tumbling down by a fax sent to the wrong office.adding that
Only six years ago, Virendra Rastogi, boss of the London-based metals trading company RBG Resources, was lauded as one of Britain's most successful young entrepreneurs. At the age 34, he was in 209th place in the Sunday Times Rich List, level with the rock star Sting, with a fortune estimated at £150m.
Finally it is back and Big brother fever breaks out in all the papers
BIG Brother bosses last night labelled this year’s contestants the weirdest bunch yet.reports the Sun
Sixteen people from the fringes of society entered the house for the start of 13 gruelling weeks.
BB9 includes an ALBINO former gangster, a SEX-MAD body-building couple and a BLIND cross-dressing comedian.
Show chief Phil Edgar Jones claimed viewers could expect the best series yet.
Still crazy - and controversial - after all these years says the Guardian
Beginning on British television in the summer that George Bush gained the Republican nomination, Channel 4's Big Brother has survived through his administration and, unlike him, is guaranteed another two years. What GWB and BB most have in common, though, is the damage they have done to the institutions they represent. Eight summers back, no-one quite believed that US presidencies or UK television could sink this low in public esteem.
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