Friday's papers

The big news this morning splashed over the Telegraph is that MPs' expenses details were leaked by a mole who was angry about the Government’s failure to properly equip Britain’s armed forces while politicians spent millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money on themselves.

The paper adds that

The mole was among the workers who processed the MPs' expenses files, and his colleagues included serving soldiers who were moonlighting to earn extra cash for body armour and other personal equipment.

Meanwhile the Independent reports that a senior commander who led British troops in Afghanistan has resigned after bitter clashes with the Government over the war.

Major-General Andrew Mackay, recently appointed General Officer commanding Scotland, Northern Ireland and Northern England, had spoken of his dismay at the "inadequate support" given to troops and the "lack of clear policy" in the conflict.

The Mail continues its campiagn against Lady Scotland as it reports that her former housekeeper came back to haunt her yesterday.

rumours swept Westminster that she is ready to reveal exactly what she told the Attorney General about her immigration status.
Political gossip websites suggested she had never produced her Tongan passport, directly contradicting Lady Scotland's claims to have gone to great lengths to verify her right to work in Britain.

A politiacl theme continues on the front of the Times which says that an investigation by the paper has found that

Dozens of Conservative parliamentary candidates are working in the lobbying industry that seeks to influence their party’s leadership.

28 prospective candidates who have a good chance of becoming Tory MPs are working as lobbyists or public relations consultants on behalf of businesses and other interests. More than a quarter got their jobs after being selected to fight seats.

The number of former servicemen in prison or on probation or parole is now more than double the total British deployment in Afghanistan, according to a new survey.

reports the Gaurdian

An estimated 20,000 veterans are in the criminal justice system, with 8,500 behind bars, almost one in 10 of the prison population.

As the G20 gets underway the Independent reports that

The leaders of the world's largest economies will agree today that it is too early to relax measures to stabilise the battered world financial system, despite signs of recovery.

According to the Guardian

European leaders appeared to be on a collision course tonight with Barack Obama and Gordon Brown after Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, warned that the G20 summit must not be diverted from clamping down on bankers' bonuses and hedge funds.

Two of Britain's biggest banks came within hours of collapse at the height of the financial crisis, it emerged yesterday

says the Mail

The Governor of the Bank of England revealed that Halifax Bank of Scotland and Royal Bank of Scotland were both within an ace of having too little money to continue trading.

Climate change is happening faster than previously thought, according to a new report from the UN Environment Programme. says the Telegraph

The report looking at the science that has been produced since found that temperature rises could be even higher because of increasing amounts of pollution in the atmosphere, speeding up of melting glaciers, collapsing ecosystems and acidification of the oceans.

Finally many of the papers report on the chance discovery of a huge cache of Anglo Saxon treasure in a Staffordshire field that has been hailed as one of the most significant archaeological finds in decades

It must have been among the epic battles of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia – aristocratic warriors charging into combat draped in their gold and silver finery, surrounded by cadres of brutish guards.

reports the Independent

Fourteen hundred years later, on 5 July 2009, unemployed Terry Herbert tramped across familiar fields in Staffordshire, carrying his 14-year-old metal detector. He murmured a prayer in hope of finding something before sunset: "Spirits of yesteryear, take me where the coins appear."