Papers focus on Budget and storms

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk/7289010.stm

Version 0 of 1.

The Guardian sums up the storm which hit the south of the UK, calling it "a rather British affair".

The manager of a Cornish wine bar tells the paper that at dawn his staff were trying to push the waves out with mops.

By 10 O'clock, they were serving coffees and cream teas to their regulars in Looe.

"Waving mad" says the Sun as it tells how some people risked their lives, while the Daily Mirror pictures waves towering over a house in Lyme Regis.

'Faltering economy'

If the storm is not taken in total seriousness, the prospect of the Budget stirs a far darker response.

The Times speaks for many when it suggests that people believe the economy may be faltering.

"It is grim out there", says the Guardian, and the chancellor has a "tiny amount of wriggle room".

The Daily Telegraph thinks there has been a sea-change in the mood of politics - the "New Puritans" are back in charge of Labour, it says.

Some papers say Chancellor Alistair Darling should think twice before pushing up taxes in his Budget on Wednesday.

The Daily Mail believes any increase on alcohol or motoring will be seen as "milking the middle class".

The Daily Express sees growing public resentment, fearing that politicians are "sleepwalking towards disaster" and "something is going to blow very soon".

The Daily Star says more taxes will not be tolerated because many families are facing financial meltdown.

Fragile mind

According to the Independent discontent is not confined to the economy - it asks: "Why are children so unhappy?"

The paper reports that one teaching union will call for a Royal Commission into the condition of childhood.

The move follows a welter of evidence highlighting the fragile state of mind of many of pupils, the paper says.

The Times points towards one reason - a report suggests giving homework at primary school stirs up family conflict and breeds resentment of school.