Newspapers mull bonus tax 'plan'

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Several papers say plans for a windfall tax on bankers' bonuses may feature in this week's pre-budget report.

The Observer thinks Chancellor Alistair Darling is preparing to use the <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/dec/06/darling-bankers-bonus-tax">"nuclear option"</a> to try to control public anger about bankers' pay.

The <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/">Sunday Telegraph</a> claims the cash raised would be used to help get young people into work.

The Sunday Times says the idea has been <a class="inlineText" href="http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article6945979.ece">played down by Treasury officials</a> who are worried London could lose business.

'Party of rich'

Gordon Brown's jibe that Tory tax policies had been devised at Eton may have struck a chord with the public, the Independent on Sunday claims.

Writing in the paper, <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/class-is-the-river-that-runs-right-through-the-english-soul-1835064.html">Tim Lott</a> says it is an attack with real bite that will get more painful as finances tighten.

A Sunday Times poll also suggests the portrayal of Tories as the party of the privileged has resonance with voters.

The survey of 2,000 people shows <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6945970.ece">52% think the Tories are still the party of the rich</a> , against 31% who do not.

Royal privacy

The Queen has intervened to stop the sale of intimate notes penned by the Queen Mother, the <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/144355/Fury-over-secret-auction-of-Queen-Mother-s-letters">Sunday Express</a> says.

It claims the letters were among dozens of personal items the Queen Mother's niece had hoped to auction last month.

The Sunday Telegraph leads with what it describes as the Queen's <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/theroyalfamily/6736477/The-Queen-gets-tough-on-paparazzi-in-royal-privacy-row.html">crackdown on the paparazzi</a> .

Royal aides told the paper they will no longer tolerate the use of telephoto lenses by freelancers during the Queen's Christmas break at Sandringham.

Dancing Queen

The Sunday Times says it is <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/leading_article/article6945867.ece">reassured</a> US President Barack Obama appears to be in Afghanistan for the long haul.

The paper also reports that Gordon Brown was <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6945976.ece">snubbed by wounded soldiers</a> during a visit to Selly Oak hospital in Birmingham in September.

The Sunday Telegraph publishes a list of the UK's favourite Karaoke tracks, or <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/6736491/Official-Top-25-karaoke-songs.html">"the songs we love to murder"</a> .

Abba's Dancing Queen tops the list, followed by Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody and My Way by Frank Sinatra.