Newspapers debate schools lottery

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk/6406827.stm

Version 0 of 1.

There is heated debate in the papers over Brighton and Hove's decision to hold a lottery for school places.

The city's middle classes are locked in a bitter war involving death threats and espionage, says the Guardian.

The Independent argues the lottery will help children from poorer families to obtain places at England's top schools.

But the Daily Mail attacks the move as social engineering, and says it will punish parents who want the best for their children.

NHS deficits

The Daily Telegraph leads with claims three-quarters of NHS trusts are restricting patients' access to treatment because of soaring deficits.

The paper quotes a survey revealing half of trusts in England are also delaying operations.

Seven out of 10 chief executives said patient care would suffer due to decisions to cut deficits, it reports.

It adds that more than 60% of acute hospital trusts said they were closing wards.

Vendetta claims

Claims that Scotland Yard ran a vendetta against the National Black Police Association to discredit one of its officers are reported by the Times.

The allegations have been made by the man himself, Chief Superintendent Ali Dizaei, in his autobiography, "Not One of Us", which the paper is serialising.

It says Mr Dizaei writes scathingly of the botched multi-million pound investigation against himself.

According to the Times, Mr Dizaei has also accused MI5 of smearing him.

Paintings stolen

"Pablo Nickasso" is how the Daily Mirror describes the theft of two Picasso pictures from the home of the artist's granddaughter in Paris.

The paper, in common with most other dailies, has also published photographs of the two paintings.

They are "Maya With Doll", featuring his daughter, and a portrait of his second wife, Jacqueline.

The Times says the haul was the biggest involving the master's works since eleven were stolen in 1989.