Monday's papers.

The Times leads with reports of a rift in the government.The paper says that plans to axe new laws that would increase costs for businesses, including enhanced maternity leave and tougher equality legislation, are threatening to blow open a Cabinet rift over how Labour should respond to the economic downturn.

At the centre of the row are Lord Mandelkson and Alistair Darling who called for a moratorium on any measures that would add to the current financial pressure on businesses.

Meanwhile the Guardian reports that Lord Mandelson was facing a politically fraught decision last night over whether to sanction a taxpayer bailout of an imploding UK van-maker owned by his friend, the Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.


The Telegraph leads with what it terms Brown's £500billion bank gamble.The Prime Minister will unveil a series of key measures that will see the Government insure the ‘toxic assets’ of major lenders and pump around £14 billion into the mortgage market through Northern Rock.

The Mail adds that the move will offer new hope to prospective buyers struggling to raise finance.

It is now virtually impossible for would-be buyers to borrow more than 75 per cent of a house's value.

says the paper

The Guardian says that police are preparing for a "summer of rage" as victims of the economic downturn take to the streets to demonstrate against financial institutions.It reports the words of Superintendent David Hartshorn, who heads the Metropolitan police's public order branch.

Britain must embrace nuclear power if it is to meet its commitments on climate change, four of the country’s leading environmentalists – who spent much of their lives opposing atomic energy – warn today.

says the front page of the Independent.

The paper adds that

The one-time opponents of nuclear power, who include the former head of Greenpeace, have told The Independent that they have now changed their minds over atomic energy because of the urgent need to curb emissions of carbon dioxide.

According to the Mail,a superdrug that protects against all the most deadly types of flu has been developed by scientists.

A single injection of the anti-viral medicine can fight off everything from a common winter virus to a life-threatening strain of bird flu, researchers say.