Wednesday's papers

Peter Mandelson's moves against higher education take the lead in both the Times and the Independent this morning

Departments are expected to close, degree courses will be scrapped and students will have to pay higher fees.

says the Times whilst the Independent says that

Universities face a move towards two-year degree courses as the Government dramatically reduces higher education spending.

The Times adds that

Academics were furious at the plan to claw back £135 million and condemned the timing of the announcement. Universities had already been ordered to find £180 million in savings in the next 18 months.

One of the City's leading financiers last night predicted a looming collapse of financial confidence in Britain as Gordon Brown received the twin blow of a fresh warning from a ratings agency over the budget deficit and figures revealing that the slump of the past 18 months is now officially the deepest since the second world war.reports the Guardian

It leads with the comments of the shadow cabinet member responsible for the family,David Willets who tells the paper that marriage in Britain is in danger of becoming an exclusive middle-class institution unless action is taken to bolster it,

According to the Telegraph,families are putting aside the biggest amount of savings ever as they take drastic measures to pull themselves out of debt,

The average household saved almost £300 a month in the three months to September – the biggest amount in any quarter in British economic history, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Meanwhile the paper reports that a second British soldier has been killed following two friendly fire incidents in as many days in Afghanistan.

The soldier died from wounds he suffered during a fire fight near Patrol Base Almas close to Sangin in central Helmand.

The bad weather continues to dominate the news

Ten million motorists are expected to brave Britain's icy roads today, while airlines try to clear a backlog of thousands of passengers before Christmas Eve.says the Guardian

Road, rail and air travellers all faced delays as snow turned to ice and created treacherous conditions.
One hospital cancelled all but emergency operations as the AA said it experienced its busiest night for breakdowns in 25 years

.
says the Telegraph

Whilst the Mail leads with the news that Thousands will miss out on their Christmas presents because the snow has led to deliveries being cancelled across large parts of Britain.

Outraged travellers demanded last night that Transport Secretary Lord Adonis return from holiday to tackle the UK's travel nightmare. says the Sun


A confidential report seen by The Times says that a leading midwifery service specialising in home births was investigated over concerns that it had ten times the normal rate of babies born with serious complications such as brain damage.

The Albany practice, an independent group in South London held up as a model for the midwifery sector, had its contract with the NHS terminated after an inquiry into alleged poor practice over 30 months.

To politics and many of the papers report John Hutton, the former Cabinet minister, has admitted predicting that Gordon Brown would be "a disaster" as Prime Minister.

Mr Hutton confirmed that he was the previously anonymous minister who spoke to the BBC in the days before Mr Brown replaced Tony Blair in 2007.
At the time, the BBC quoted a minister as saying: "He will be a ******* disaster as Prime minister."

says the Telegraph

The Independent reports that

Government buildings are burning up more energy, despite Gordon Brown's latest campaign to save the planet. Civil servants insist the cause is their longer working hours but the Tories accuse ministers of "hypocrisy" and of being less "green".

The Mail claims that The Tories have received £100,000 from a company controlled by a former arms dealer who was at the centre of one of the party’s most notorious scandals.

The donations have come from the tiny British arm of Future Pipe Industries, which is controlled by billionaire Lebanese businessman Fouad Makhzoumi.

The Express leads with the story that foriegn criminals are being sent home with £500 cash as part of a taxpayer-funded package worth up to £5,000.

The extra payment has been introduced as part of support packages – which some critics are calling bribes – worth up to £5,000 to help offenders start businesses or train in their own countries.

The Sun reveals that a premier League manager spent more thahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifn an hour in the company of hookers in a "Thai" vice den,

when confronted by our reporters as he left, the married boss smiled and shamelessly admitted he knew it was a brothel.

Osama bin Laden’s closest relatives are living in a secret compound in Iran, members of the family said last night. They include a wife and children who disappeared from his Afghan camp at the time of the 9/11 attacks on the United States.

reports the Times

Finally the Guardian reports

Kim Peek, the real Rain Man whose almost unimaginable powers of memory were coupled with severe disabilities and who inspired the Oscar-winning film role played by Dustin Hoffman, has died of a heart attack in his home town of Salt Lake City, aged 58.