Anger over soldiers' payout fight

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk/8173724.stm

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"Shot in the leg, then stabbed in the back" - that is the Sun's opinion of efforts by the government to cut the compensation given to two wounded soldiers.

The paper says <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/2560364/Brit-hero-fought-Taliban-in-Panthers-Claw-now-hes-at-war-with-MoD-to-keep-his-compensation.html">the case adds "insult to injury"</a> for one of them in particular, Cpl Anthony Duncan, who has fought the Taliban and now has to fight in court too.

<a class="inlineText" href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1202887/What-way-treat-heroes-As-coffins-carried-home-mean-legal-fight-MoD-penny-pinchers.html">"The timing could hardly have been more insulting,"</a> the Daily Mail says, given the mounting casualties in Afghanistan.

The Daily Mirror tells ministers: <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/latest/2009/07/29/">"When you're in a hole, stop digging." </a>

'Unforgiving business'

Esther Rantzen says she will stand as an MP in a seat left vacant after the expenses row.

But she could find politics <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/leading_article/article6731033.ece">"an unforgiving business,"</a> claims the Times.

The paper says standing as an anti-sleaze candidate when the wrongdoer has stepped aside is "bizarre" given that "the source of local discontent" is already gone.

The Guardian feels Ms Rantzen <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/jul/28/esther-rantzen-luton-south-candidate">"wasn't entirely convincing when asked to outline her manifesto,"</a> but "radiated excitement" about the "adventure" ahead.

'Botox tax'

New research claims sunbeds are as lethal as cigarettes when it comes to causing cancer, prompting calls from the Daily Express for them to be banned.

But its leader is pessimistic about the chances of that happening. <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/117010/Sunbeds-pose-as-big-a-risk-as-cigarettes-">"They are only instruments of vanity.</a> But when did common sense ever get in the way of vanity?" it asks.

Meanwhile, a crackdown on vanity of a different kind interests the Daily Telegraph.

<a class="inlineText" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/5926948/Cosmetic-surgery-tax-proposed-to-finance-health-care-reform.html">"America plans a 'Botox tax',"</a> it reports, to penalise unnecessary procedures and raise money to fund more essential healthcare.

Witch idol

The UK's first atheist summer camp for children is more likely to "set them up for a lifetime of God," writes Ellie Levenson in the Independent.

"The best way to ensure children are not religious is to <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/ellie-levenson-an-atheist-camp-is-a-terrible-idea-1763952.html">give them just enough religion to put them off,"</a> she says.

From atheism to paganism, the appointment of a new resident witch at Wookey Hole Caves in Somerset draws comment.

The Daily Mirror says <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/07/29/wookey-hole-picks-new-50k-resident-witch-with-talent-show-115875-21554869/">she "beat off (not with her broomstick) stiff competition"</a> to take the post.