Gordon Brown's drive to save the housing market from collapse was undermined yesterday when the gamble to axe stamp duty for almost half of all property sales was quickly followed by dire predictions that the UK would be the only major economy to slip into recession this year.
The prime minister's economic fight-back plan, the start of a month-long battle to save his premiership, began with the surprise announcement of a year-long stamp duty holiday on any house sale under £175,000, starting today. But the scheme - which the Treasury claimed will cost an estimated £600m - was dismissed as a sticking plaster by the housing industry.
The Times says that
His efforts to restore confidence were badly undermined by a forecast from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that Britain’s economy will shrink in the final two quarters of the year. In its latest outlook for the G7 group of leading industrialised nations, the OECD said that Japan, Italy, France and Germany, which recorded shrinking output in the second quarter of the year, would recover sufficiently to record some growth this year. It also revised its forecast for US growth this year from 1.2 per cent to 1.8 per cent.
The Telegraph describes the plan as a symbolic gesture
amid growing fears about the state of public finances, the Treasury refused to explain how the £600 million scheme would be paid for.
Senior figures in the property industry called the measure "a political sticking plaster" that would not make "one iota of difference" particularly to housebuyers in London and the South East. One described it as a "drop in the ocean".
The Independent meanwhile says
Britain 'in recession by end of the year'
Yesterday's gloomy forecast by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) contradicted declarations yesterday by the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, that he is "optimistic" about the British economy.
The OECD said that Britain would be the only one of the G7 group of leading industrialised nations to fall into recession during the rest of the year.
The Telegraph reports that
Foster murdered wife and daughter
Police said CCTV footage showed Mr Foster, 50, wielding a gun as he strode around the outbuildings of his £1.2 million property, Osbaston House, in the early hours of last Tuesday morning.
The film from his own security cameras also showed him driving a horsebox up to the mansion’s front gates, before getting out and shooting out the tyres to prevent the emergency services from accessing the property.
Detectives believe Mr Foster suffered a breakdown after his business failed with debts of £1.8 million, and decided to kill his family and raze their home to the ground to prevent it falling into the hands of creditors
The Sun reporting that
MANSION massacre dad Chris Foster executed his daughter with a bullet to the head as she sat at her bedroom computer.
The horror was revealed as a chilling minute-by-minute breakdown of last week’s bloodbath finally emerged yesterday.
The Times leads with Triumph for British forces
British troops completed one of their most complex and daring operations since the Second World War: outfoxing the Taleban to deliver a giant new turbine to the Kajaki Dam in the southern Afghan province of Helmand. In doing so they marked a turning point that Nato commanders hope will prove decisive in the battle for Afghan hearts and minds.
The Independent says that
It took six days and involved 4,000 troops and millions of pounds worth of explosives to clear the route to get the £3.4m turbine to Kajaki, a significant and symbolic project in the battle for Afghan hearts and minds. But before the convoy of equipment could pass, the Afghan National Army, along with their mentors from the 1st Battalion, the Royal Irish, spent the same number of days clearing through Taliban territory, witnessed by The Independent. Details of the operation were kept secret until its completion.
Football stories still spill onto the front pages,the same paper reporting that
The daring takeover of Manchester City was masterminded by a financier who once turned down a marriage proposal from Prince Andrew.
The new owner of Manchester City FC, who is the brother of the ruler of Abu Dhabi, the biggest of the United Arab Emirates, and has access to an estimated fortune of £550bn to fund foreign acquisitions, and his advisers spent two weeks negotiating with the Yorkshirewoman before tying up a deal that was heralded with a £32.6m statement of intent in the shape of City's acquisition of the Brazilian striker Robinho for a British record fee.
Sheik your booty says the front of the Sun as it tells of the six players that the new owners want
Dr Al Fahim told The Sun: “We were disappointed not to get Berbatov — we tried very hard.
“But that does not mean we have given up. We have big plans for this football club and we’ll be back to try to get him again next year.”
And he vowed to bring in at least EIGHTEEN new players.
Dr Al Fahim said: “If we can get the biggest players in the world, then we will get them.
“Ronaldo has said he wants to play for the biggest club in the world. So we will see in January if he is serious. Real Madrid were estimating his value at £90million. But for a player like that, to actually get him, will cost a lot more. I would think £134million.
More football on the front of the Mirror which reports on the saga of Kevin Keegan at Newcastle
The Mail leads with a Cholesterol pill warning
A drug used to treat high cholesterol could cause cancer, doctors warned last night.
Heart experts called for caution over the use of Inegy, which is taken as a daily pill.
At least one leading specialist said he would not take the drug, while others said the jury was still out.
The U.S. has ordered an investigation into Inegy, which combines the widely used statin drug simvastatin with a new medication called ezetimibe.
The Guardian stays on the same topic reporting that
Valium is making a comeback, but not as the "mother's little helper" prescription pill that tranquillised British suburban housewives in the 1960s and 1970s. According to an authoritative drug survey, published today, diazepam, as it is properly known, is being used by class A drug users as a cheap alternative to heroin.
The 2008 Druglink magazine street drug trends survey published today says the increased popularity of diazepam in the last 12 months reflects a drop in the quality and availability of street heroin in some parts of the country .
Health features in the Telegraph also which reports that
Schoolchildren are becoming increasingly addicted to caffeine because of the growth of high energy drinks, according to experts.The consumption of too many caffeine-packed drinks, such as Red Bull and Relentless, may leave some pupils suffering chest pains and headaches, it was claimed.
They may also be fuelling bad behaviour in the classroom as teachers struggle to control hyperactive children
Now we have got dentists in Tents is the lead in the Express this morning.The paper reporting the perilious state of NHS dentistry as we have dentists from Hungray touring the country in inflatable tents
Solar panels 'take 100 years to pay back installation costs' reports the Independent
Solar panels are one of the least cost-effective ways of combating climate change and will take 100 years to pay back their installation costs, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) warned yesterday.
In a new guide on energy efficiency, Rics said that roof panels for heating water and generating power are unlikely to save enough from bills to make them financially viable in a householder's lifetime. In the case of solar panels to heat water for baths and showers, the institution estimates the payback time from money saved from electricity and gas bills will take more than 100 years – and up to 166 years in the worst case.
The Mail reports on The 2012 Olympic martyrs
An elderly couple are vowing to go to jail rather than pay the 2012 Olympics surcharge on their council tax bill.
Tom and Rita Glenister insist the £33.33 levy imposed on London homes to cover the cost of the London Games is unfair.
They will appear in court later this month after ignoring repeated demands for the Olympic charge from their local council.
More Olympic news in the Times.It says that
Fraudsters are planning to exploit the public’s newfound enthusiasm for the Olympic Games in London three years before tickets go on sale.
An American lawyer representing 144 victims of a fake ticketing scam during the Beijing Games — the victims of which included the parents of the double Olympic swimming champion Rebecca Adlington, who paid £1,100 for tickets that never arrived — gave warning that the syndicate behind the crime would repeat its multimillion-pound swindle in 2012.
Finally the Guardian reports on a 'blasphemous' erection
Representatives for a gallery in Gateshead appeared in court yesterday charged with outraging public decency, after featuring a statue of Jesus with an erection.
The artwork was part of the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art's September 2007-January 2008 exhibition Gone, Yet Still, by the controversial Chinese artist Terence Koh, which featured dozens of plaster figures including Mickey Mouse and ET - all in some state of arousal.
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