Papers unpick PM's economy speech

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The economy speech Gordon Brown will give to the TUC on Tuesday is covered at length across the papers.

The <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brown-to-claim-recession-over-as-union-boss-warns-of-poll-disaster-1786603.html">Independent on Sunday</a> thinks he will give a positive assessment. Or, as the People puts it, "the good times are just around the corner".

The <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/">Sunday Mirror</a> says the "upbeat forecast" is a "high-risk strategy".

The <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/">Sunday Telegraph</a> expects Mr Brown to play up the fragility of the recovery because he wants to dissuade the unions from threatening to strike.

'Union dinosaurs'

The <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/">News of the World</a> says it is "time to slay the union dinosaurs".

The paper tells Mr Brown - and the unions - that "strikes and fairytale pay demands won't get this great country back on its feet".

The Sunday Times agrees. It relies on the evidence of a recent opinion poll for its claim that "voters have had enough of a bloated state".

It says <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/leading_article/article6832395.ece">people are "fed up with paying"</a> to support the public sector and want "cuts in public spending".

'Unknowable' royal

The publication of a previously unseen letter by the Queen Mother has whetted appetites for the up-coming official biography by William Shawcross.

The Sunday Times says the book promises to reveal more about <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/court_and_social/article6832328.ece">"the most unknowable of the royals".</a>

The Observer says that, during her lifetime, <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/sep/13/queen-mother-biography-shawcross-luftwaffe">she gave just one interview.</a>

The Mail on Sunday says it looks forward to "new and fascinating insights into <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1213028/Queen-mothers-biographer-walked-fine-line.html">the woman behind the pearls and pastel dresses".</a>

Crumbling cathedral

According to the Sunday Telegraph, the pillars that hold up Canterbury Cathedral are being held together with duct tape.

Chunks of masonry are falling off and a spokesman for the church says there must be swift action "if we don't want to have a ruin there".

The paper too calls for a gesture to save the cathedral.

It says <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/6180136/Canterburys-precious-stones.html">the building is made of "precious stones"</a> and "deserves better than to crumble through sheer neglect".