Papers focus on the credit crunch

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The joint action by the Bank of England with four other world central banks to tackle the credit crunch is the top story across the broadsheets.

The Guardian believes the banks have clearly got the jitters, noting that interest-rate cuts have failed to ease the squeeze on credit.

The Financial Times thinks there is a chance of easing the crunch, but says a decade of excess is hard to erase.

The Independent says central bankers appear to have lost their touch.

'Penny-pinching raid'

The Daily Mirror sums up the pay row between police and the home secretary as "an avoidable confrontation".

The Daily Mail wants to know why ministers have chosen to pick a fight and risk a confrontation with the defenders of law and order.

The paper sees it as a penny-pinching raid for minimum gain to the taxpayer.

The Daily Express says the pay rise could be found if what it calls the bureaucrats in politically-correct non-jobs were eliminated.

Fab Fabio

The star of the sports pages this morning is Fabio Capello - the man who seems certain to take over as England's head football coach.

The Telegraph and the Independent are both impressed by the way the FA have handled negotiations.

The Daily Express reports there is only the small print to sort out, while the Sun runs a profile.

Among his achievements and interests away from the football pitch are art, good food, fine wine and travelling.

EU blues

The decision by Gordon Brown to sign the EU treaty in Lisbon gets short shrift from several of the papers.

The Sun sums up its view of the prime minister with a mocked-up picture of him waving a white flag.

It says that with the stroke of a pen, he will take powers from elected Westminster MPs and hand them to unaccountable figures in Brussels.

The Guardian is of a similar mind. It says he should never have got into what it calls "this humiliating position".