Papers turn on 'dole cheats'

The decision of Chancellor Gordon Brown to crackdown on the so-called "black"- or illegal - economy is detailed in all the papers.

But some appear to report it with more relish than others.

"I'll Nail The Dole Cheats", is the Daily Mail's summation of Mr Brown's plans for finding and punishing tax and benefit cheats. The paper says the measures to be introduced amount to an "onslaught" that is unprecedented for a Labour Chancellor, and risks the wrath of the party's left-wing.

But Mr Brown says he is never been afraid to ruffle feathers. "There is going to be no hiding place for benefit fraudsters in the future," he tells the paper - prompting its leader writer to conclude that the chancellor has made "a valuable beginning".

'Harsh prison sentences'

The Sun says the Treasury report into the problem reveals that, as it puts it: "Scroungers, illegal immigrants and criminals are sucking the country dry." Widescale deportations of foreign fiddlers and harsh prison sentences for homegrown cheats are the only solution, it argues.

The Daily Telegraph and The Times both talk of "Brown's Blitz on the Black Economy". But The Times cautions care, saying the chancellor should keep civil liberties and natural justice in mind when going on the offensive.

The focus on jobs - this time legal ones - continues in the Belfast-based News Letter and the Irish News. The headline on the front page of the News Letter sums up its reaction to the threat hanging over the Harland & Wolff shipyard. "Axe Looms - the outlook is bleak," says the paper, arguing that the decision to issue protective redundancy notices to more than 15,000 workers does not appear to offer them much protection.

The Irish News reports that the yard's owners have admitted it will be difficult to ensure the workforce's future.

The Independent says that those of us fortunate enough to be in a job could also be facing changes. The government has set aside one and a half million pounds to fund a study of the benefits of making office hours more flexible and "family friendly".

But before the first recommendation has even been made, the Express says business leaders have dismissed the grant as "a drop in the ocean".

Bumpy ride

The prime minister is warned not to expect a holiday from the recent travails experienced by Labour over devolution when he visits Scotland today. If anything, says the Scotsman he needs to work harder to set-out a clear agenda as to what the policy should mean.

"Doubtless, after recent upheavals in Wales and London, a trip north of the Border might be mistaken for welcome respite..." considers the paper. But such optimism would be misplaced and the party is in for a bumpy ride, not least in the forthcoming Ayr by-election.

The paper could also have mentioned Northern Ireland, and the suspension of devolved government there. There's a dearth of coverage of yesterday's multi-party talks at Stormont.

But, writing in the Daily Telegraph, the former Irish Prime Minister, John Bruton, reminds readers that the impasse caused by weapons decommissioning is not going to go away. The IRA's refusal to disarm presents more of a threat to the Irish state than it does to Britain, argues Mr Bruton. But the threat is very real.