Papers focus on economic matters

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The continuing row within the government over the abolition of the 10p tax rate is widely reported in Wednesday's papers.

The Guardian says Frank Field, the MP it describes as the rebellion's architect, wants a compensation package for low-paid workers hit by the change.

And the Sun says Gordon Brown is troubled by the possibility of defeat when the Commons votes on the measure.

It says he has "scrambled" his entire cabinet in an attempt to kill the backbench revolt in Monday's vote.

Interest rates

The chancellor's meeting with mortgage lenders receives mixed reviews.

The Daily Mirror says banks and building societies promised to do their utmost to help hard-pressed families struggling to pay their mortgages.

But the Daily Telegraph reports that the lenders resisted Alistair Darling's call for them to pass on the Bank of England's recent cut in interest rates.

They are said to have told the chancellor that fixed-rate deals were unlikely to improve for months.

Food inflation

The rising cost of living is a common theme in Wednesday's papers, with the Times declaring that the era of cheap food is at an end.

It quotes experts as warning that the prices of basic commodities such as rice, wheat and vegetable oil will rise even further due to acute shortages.

And the Telegraph reports on what it calls the highest rate of food inflation for a generation.

Meanwhile, the Daily Express' headline is: "Shopping Bill Up £15 a week."

'Another joyride'

The Independent reports that Germany's biggest bank, Deutsche Bank, has ordered belt-tightening measures.

Employees on overnight flights who are expected to attend meetings upon arrival have been told to shower at the airport instead of booking a hotel, it says.

And the Sun says Prince William has taken "another joyride" in an RAF helicopter - over his grandmother's Sandringham estate in Norfolk.

Its headline reads: "One has been a very sortie boy."