What the Sunday papers said

The Sunday Telegraph

• Binge drinking combined with smoking is causing oral cancer in men and women as young as 20, according to a new study by King's College, London. Read more on thePublican.com.

Following in the footsteps of other Tories like John Major, William Hague and Iain Duncan Smith, Michael Howard has been pictured with a pint. The new Conservative leader was pulling pints of beer at the King's Head in Hythe, Kent, to raise money for the British Royal Legion.

Britain's economy will grow by 2 per cent this year and by 2.5 per cent in 2004, according to the latest quarterly economic forecast from the British Chambers of Commerce.

The Independent on Sunday​

• US beer brand giant Pabst, owner of Blue Ribbon, Lone Star and Colt 45 lager, has paved the way for another round of consolidation in the global brewing industry after instructing investment bank Merrill Lynch to look at options for the business. Coors, Diageo, Heineken and Scottish & Newcastle are all potentail bidders for the business, valued at up to $500m including debt.

Women are giving the orders as menus and décor in Britain's restaurants are revamped to suit their tastes. Research shows that women are accounting for a rapidly growing share of the £24.4bn restaurant market.

Two pieces from the Independent's "Storyville" section:

• Germany has regained the European drink-driving record. A man found comatose in his car later tested for a blood alcohol level of 5.3 per cent - 11 times the limit and well beyond the level at which death should set in

Mike Murphy, a police officer in Springfield, Missouri, was a bit too much like Homer Simpson. Finding 70 beers seized by an underage drinking squad, he drank the lot. His lawyer said Murphy was following force policy by disposing of the beer. "And turning the beer into urine is disposal," he insisted. Despite the novel defence, he was fired.

The Observer​

• The epidemic of child obesity caused by poor nutrition and lack of exercise is creating a looming health crisis in Britain, with average life expectancy expected to drop for the first time this century.

Diageo, the drinks giant, has bowed to pressure from MPs to rethink a distilling policy that has caused uproar in the world of Scotch whisky. Read more on thePublican.com.

The Mail on Sunday​

• David Page, former chief executive of restaurant chain Pizza Express, is to raise nearly £15m when he floats his latest venture, Clapham House, on Aim (Alternative Investment Market).

The Sunday Times​

• The government's top food adviser is considering draconian laws to ban junk food advertising and prevent firms from using celebrities to endorse products high in fat, salt and sugar.

Consumer spending and the housing market are unlikely to slow significantly despite the treat of further interest rate rises, analysts say.

The Sunday Express​

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