Papers ponder new marriage perks

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The editorials are generally impressed with Tory plans to give tax breaks to married couples.

"The argument is virtually over," says the Daily Telegraph, insisting only the "disingenuous or uninformed" would disagree that two parents are better than one.

"After months of writing about wind power and the work-life balance", David Cameron has finally unveiled a "true Tory policy", the Daily Mail comments.

But the Guardian says the Tories risk looking nostalgic for a past that is gone forever.

'Mortgage meltdown'

The papers are pessimistic about the future for Britain's young home-buyers.

The Independent sums their prospects up in three lines: "Mortgage madness; Mortgage misery; Mortgage meltdown?"

First-time buyers are borrowing a record 3.37 times their salary, yet still aren't put off taking the risk, the Daily Express reports.

But the Daily Mail warns that a "terrifying combination" of soaring house prices, "punishing" stamp duty and excessive borrowing is leading to a crisis.

Two-child policy

"Smokers of the world ignite - and move to Stoke-on-Trent", says the Daily Mirror's front page.

The paper says the 1 July ban has by-passed "Smoke on Trent" because "bungling" council chiefs failed to get their enforcement powers approved in time.

Meanwhile, research in the Guardian suggests the UK needs another ban - on having more than two children.

The Optimum Population Trust claims the environmental impact of each birth in Britain is 160 times that in Ethiopia.

'Dishonest deals'

The Times claims a series of deals by the government mean rail fares could rise by 30% above inflation by 2015.

The paper says it is a "profoundly dishonest" way of increasing rail companies' revenue and reducing the amount of public subsidy given to them.

Finally, a bizarre story in the Sun which claims a Cheshire housewife has married the son of Osama bin Laden.

"He is the most beautiful person in the world," Jane Felix-Browne, 51, says of her new husband, 25 years her junior.