Page last updated at 07:23 GMT, Sunday, 7 December 2008

Clamour grows for Speaker's head

Sunday papers
The row over the arrest of Damian Green rumbles on in Sunday's papers, with Commons Speaker Michael Martin the target of much ire.

The Sunday Telegraph says he "meekly capitulated" by not standing up for an MP's right to keep correspondence with his constituents private.

He "showed a deplorable lack of leadership and a lamentable failure to accept or even to understand the responsibilities of his office", says the leader.

The Observer feels he failed to protect the dignity of Parliament. It compares him to "a plump Lewis Carroll" full of "absurdity, blush and bluster".

'Demented'

The Sunday Times uses its leader to demand action to remove Zimbabwe's "demented dictator" Robert Mugabe.

"The West may have to grasp the nettle" because "the trouble with international condemnation is that, particularly in the case of Mr Mugabe, it falls on deaf ears".

The plight of a female British doctor allegedly being forced into a marriage in Bangladesh is highlighted by the Independent on Sunday.

The paper says Dr Humayra Abedin "is being held hostage" and is looking to new Home Office legislation to help her.

Queen crackered

There are tales of Christmas indulgence - and cost-cutting - in several papers.

The Sunday Express reports that "shoppers went on a recession-busting spending spree yesterday to lift the economic gloom".

Sales could top last year's total of £13bn, it claims, as "delighted customers" enjoy big discounts.

The News of the World, on the other hand, says the Queen is tightening her belt, reportedly telling royal cracker makers not to place extravagant gifts inside.

Panto villain

The Mail on Sunday scrutinises the role of two royal security officers who it says accompanied Princess Eugenie on a backpacker-style trip to India.

"She looked the part of a traveller" staying in a "shack", but not many gap-year students could afford the £10,000 protection bill, the paper says.

And from beach to jungle, the Sunday Mirror leads with the "amazing life" of I'm a Celebrity contestant David Van Day.

And what next for the "camp schemer"? "I will make a very good pantomime villain," he says.

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