Brown poll recovery falters as Labour and Tories plan tax cuts
A new ICM poll for the Sunday Telegraph gives the Conservatives a 13 point lead over Labour, dashing Gordon Brown's hopes of a recovery in the wake of an unexpected by-election victory in Glenrothes. The survey puts the Tories on 43 per cent with Labour on 30. The poll comes as David Cameron plans to unveil a recession-beating tax cut in an effort to get his party on the front foot amid signs that the Government is planning its own tax giveaway in the forthcoming Pre-Budget Report. (Sunday Telegraph)
People: Osborne comes face to face with his nemesis Mandelson 
The Mole: does Glenrothes represent the light at the end of the tunnel
Banks refuse to pass on cuts
High Street banks have told Chancellor Alistair Darling they will not pass on any further interest rate cuts to customers. Bankers warned that with the base rate at 3 per cent, their margins are "desperately small". One bank executive said after a meeting with Darling, "This point was made quite clear to the Chancellor… we are not charities." Darling in turn pointed out that the three part-nationalised banks, RBS, HBOS and Lloyds-TSB would be under most pressure to pass on any cuts. (Sunday Times)
The Bank of England's desperate bid for relevance
The Mole: City gasps as BoE throws caution to the wind
Straw under pressure over gift
Jack Straw faces two official inquiries over a £3,000 donation from a Texan energy company that he did not disclose to the Electoral Commission or to Parliament. Canatxx Energy Ventures, which wants to build a controversial £300m underground gas storage facility in Lancashire, close to Straw's Blackburn constituency, donated the money towards a party to celebrate Jack Straw's 25th anniversary as an MP. (Sunday Times)
People: Mark Thompson flips at Jack Straw
Third world standards at hospital
Treatment at Birmingham Children's Hospital, one of Britain's leading paediatric institutions, has been described as worse than that in the developing world by a doctors' report. Among other failures, the document reveals that doctors lie to parents to cover up sub-standard care; that surgeons undertaking kidney transplants had received better support on a recent visit to Nigeria; and that doctors no longer report safety risks as "there is no point". (Observer)
NHS database awaits legal diagnosis
Al Qaeda plans attacks on Britain
Secret al Qaeda extremist cells, comprising "some thousands" of individuals based in London, Luton and Birmingham are planning mass-casualty terrorist attacks in Britain, according to a leaked intelligence report from MI5 and Special Branch. Britain is threatened by "British nationals, including Muslim converts, and UK-based foreign terrorists, as well as terrorists planning attacks from abroad." (Sunday Telegraph)
Al Qaeda is losing but the West isn't winning
Liquid bomb plot: not the first time
Major industry across Britain is to shut down for a month over Christmas as the recession hits. The car industry is the worst hit, with Bentley planning to close from 11 December to 12 January. Honda, BMW, Ford and Vauxhall are planning similar breaks. Meanwhile, for the first time since the 1970s, the Department for Transport has recorded two consecutive quarters of decreasing road traffic. (Observer, Independent on Sunday)
After the credit crunch, what next for the world?
The economy: a trillion reasons to be gloomy
Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights has told the Government it must allow prisoners the right to vote or the next general election will be illegal under European law. Labour now faces the choice of enfranchising Britain's 84,000 prison inmates or being hauled in front of the European Court of Human Rights. (Observer)
Prisoners get high on the warders' supply
Minister for Equalities Harriet Harman has vowed to press on with controversial plans to scrap the ancient defence of provocation, used by husbands accused of killing unfaithful or 'nagging' wives. Harman, who is flying in the face of misgivings expressed by the senior Law Lord, described provocation as "our own version of honour killings." (Observer)
Honour killing shame us all
Payments at employment tribunals have reached a record £32m. Awards for unfair dismissal, equal pay, discrimination over religion and sexual orientation have all increased, according to statistics obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. The figures are likely to be the tip of the iceberg, since most claims are settled our of court. (Sunday Telegraph)
An overwhelming majority of Britons would vote for a black prime minister, a poll by theological thinktank Theos has found. The survey found that 93 per cent of voters would back a black candidate. While only five per cent would not vote for a black leader on principle, 23 per cent admitted they would not vote for a Muslim candidate. (Sunday Telegraph)
From post-racial America to racially divided Africa
Proposals to build a replacement for Heathrow airport in the Thames estuary have been given a boost by Boris Johnson. The mayor of London has appointed Douglas Oakervee, the engineer behind Hong Kong's island airport to examine the viability of the project. Support for the new airport threatens to undermine the Government's attempts to face down opposition to a third runway at Heathrow. (Sunday Times)
At least 20 sailors and shipyard workers have died with a further 21 injured following a fire on a Russian nuclear submarine, which was undergoing sea trials. The submarine has been ordered to return to port in Russia's far-eastern Primorye territory following the failure of the vessel's fire extinguishing system. (Independent on Sunday)
How to avoid a second Crimean war
President-elect Barack Obama is wrestling with "backbiting" in his hunt for a Treasury Secretary to help the US out of its economic meltdown. Aggressive lobbying by candidates has stifled hopes that he would fill the position quickly. The frontrunners are Bill Clinton's Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and Timothy Geithner, the head of the New York Federal Reserve bank. (Sunday Telegraph)
Someone owes Lawrence Summers and apology
American Transition: news, gossip and analysis
The three Islamic militants convicted of 2002's Bali bombings in which 202 people were killed were executed by firing squad in Indonesia yesterday. The men had exhausted all legal avenues for appeal, leaving the relatives of their British victims divided over the death sentence, with some saying their loved ones would not have approved. (Sunday Times)
Sir Peter Burt and Sir George Mathewson, the former chiefs of Bank of Scotland and Royal Bank of Scotland respectively have criticised the proposed takeover of HBOS by Lloyds-TSB, saying that keeping HBOS independent could save 20,000 jobs. They also called for the resignation of HBOS chairman, Lord Stevenson and its chief executive, Andy Hornby (left). (Sunday Telegraph)
People: Andy Hornby cashes in on HBOS failure
Lloyds rescue of HBOS would not be allowed in normal times
President-elect Barack Obama plans to crack down on international tax havens, including Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, putting him on a collision course with Gordon Brown, whose Government is already facing criticism for blocking moves to upgrade the UN tax committee to intergovernmental status. Obama advisors estimate action could save at least $50bn per year in lost US tax revenues. (Observer)
Corrupt practice in a tropical paradise
Premier Foods' 35 creditors, have hired advisers to help them push through a speedy reduction in the company's £1.7bn debt. The Hovis bread owner is trading strongly and will give the City an update on its sales performance on November 18. The company has tabled a series of proposals to its lenders, none of which involve disposing of any of its leading brands. (Sunday Telegraph)
The First Post business pages
Curators of the Tate Modern's blockbuster Mark Rothko exhibition have displayed two of the artist's best-known paintings on their side. The two works from the Black on Maroon series have been hung with the bold stripes running top to bottom, contrary to the artist's wish that they should be displayed with the stripes running horizontally. (Sunday Times)
Rich pickings and scorned aristocrats
Jane Birkin (left), the former wife and muse of the dead French music legend Serge Gainsbourg, is releasing an album of her own music on the 80th anniversary of her late husband's birth. Enfants d'Hiver (Children of Winter) represents a marked departure from a lifetime of re-recording Gainsbourg's songs and reinterpreting his work. (Observer)
Say it with groans - or yodels
Works of art worth an estimated £1m are being given away for free by one of the world's leading street artists. Starting at dawn on Friday, Adam Neate, whose works fetch £43,000 each, is planning to leave 1,000 pieces around London for anyone who wishes to take them. (Independent on Sunday)
