Debate rages over Bush trip

Controversy about security for President Bush's State visit to Britain next week attracts widespread coverage.

The Times quotes senior Scotland Yard officers as saying the trip has become a nightmare, with police having to agree to White House demands for greater restrictions on protesters than they wanted.

The Independent complains that the measures being considered to curtail demonstrations are reaching absurd proportions.

"The authorities seem to be saying to the people of this country that they can certainly hold up a placard telling Mr Bush to go home, provided there is no danger of him seeing it."

For the Mirror, a visit from an American President should be a triumphal event, but this one - with the prospect of massive demonstrations - is promising to be a disaster.

Civil liberties

The Daily Mail, however, believes that whatever the rights and wrongs of the Iraq war, Mr Bush deserves the courtesy and consideration due to the head of a nation that has traditionally stood by this country in its hour of need.

The arrest of three British Airways crew members on suspicion of being under the influence of drink is widely reported - it's the lead for the Mirror and the Sun, with its headline, "British Aleways".

According to the Sun, passengers waiting to board their flight at Oslo airport told ground staff they were worried about the state of some crew members.

David Blunkett's statement to MPs on his plans for national identity cards inevitably produces strong arguments on both sides of the debate.

The Telegraph describes the Home Secretary's proposals as a back door scheme. It says the cost to the Exchequer and to civil liberties far outweighs any possible benefits.

The Guardian shares those concerns - and adds that Mr Blunkett showed a worrying faith in the foolproof nature of biometric technology.

But the Sun asks: "Why all the fuss about identity cards?"

Soham girls

In the Mirror's view, adding an identity card to the fistful of cards most of us already carry is not going to affect any law-abiding person much, if at all.

The Mail's main story is that women may soon be refused NHS caesareans unless there's a good medical reason.

According to the Telegraph, the Institute of Public Relations has said the Prince of Wales's former senior aide, Mark Bolland, should be stripped of a public relations award he was given two years ago, because of an article he wrote for the News of the World last weekend.

The visit by the jury in the Soham trial to the remote spot where the bodies of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman were found, receives detailed coverage.

Many of the reports note that the visit co-incided with the Armistice Day silence.

According to the Mail, the Red Cross has banned Christmas cards which contain any reference to religion from its shops, for fear of offending minority faiths.

A number of papers reflect on the sale of the Conservative Central Office building in Smith Square.

The Telegraph says the Tory leader, Michael Howard, hopes a move to a more modern building will show that the party is seeking to make a decisive break with the past.

For the Guardian, Conservative Central Office came to symbolise the Tories' apparent invincibility during the 1980s, but after Margaret Thatcher's fall from office, it became associated with the party's descent into near anarchy.

Scantily clad

The Telegraph reports that a woman has been turned away from a bar in Aberdeen because she was carrying a Burberry umbrella and handbag.

The distinctive check clothing, along with other labels, has been banned from the city's pubs and clubs because it's been adopted locally by so-called soccer casuals - football hooligans in expensive clothes.

The government of New South Wales in Australia is planning to call time on "beer wenches" - women paid to fetch drinks during sports events - reports the Independent.

The women - often scantily clad - act as bar runners so that sports fans can watch the action.

But the authorities believe the practice sends the wrong signal, encouraging drunkenness and associating sport with alcohol abuse.