What the Sunday papers said

Hundreds of thousands of people are set to defy the government by refusing to carry identity cards, despite the risk of imprisonment. Campaigners say a network of anti-ID card groups plan a series of actions in the coming months to try and block the scheme. The Home Office estimates that 17 per cent of adults in the UK - around 4m people - oppose the introduction of ID cards. - The Observer​

The government is being accused of having used bullying tactics in its attempt to suppress the London School Of Economics' recently-published report on identity cards. LSE governors have claimed the Home Office had tried to delay publication until after last week's Commons vote on the technology. Home Secretary Charles Clarke has accused the LSE of fabricating research that indicated the average cost of ID cards would be £230 per person. - Sunday Times​

Private equity investors in Spirit Group have called in Merril Lynch to conduct an auction for the pub operator. The appointment was made after Spirit confirmed it had held talks with potential bidder Punch Taverns. There are meanwhile thought to be disagreements over strategy amongst Spirit's four private equity backers, Texas Pacific, CVC, Blackstone and Merrill Lynch. - Sunday Times​

A trade war between the US and Europe is threatening to erupt over wine. US and European trade officials are trying to hammer out a new wine agreement covering what countries will accept from each other. Europe is apparently reluctant to sanction various US practices such as the American habit of adding oak-chips to barrels to speed up the ageing process. The US meanwhile believes the European stance against its wine-making falls foul of World Trade Organisation rules. - Independent On Sunday​

Industry watchers do not believe Pernod-Ricard bid for Allied Domecq will be the deal to end all deals, but rather it will trigger a round of mergers and acquisitions across the sector. While previous big deals, such as Seagram, promised - but failed to deliver - a flurry of corporate activity, this time companies are seeking assets and looking for economies of scale. The larger and more powerful the company, the better deal thay can strike with distributors. -

For those men in suits running the UK's 60,000 pubs and bars their lives have become a white knuckle ride. A wave of takeovers has hit the sector and consolidation seems to be order of the day - although it is one thing doing deals, it is another making them work. - Sunday Express​

And finally...

Despite having been on the market for five years, the £70,000 lease of the Blind Beggar pub in east London has still not found a buyer. Agents for the boozer, made (in)famous by Ronnie Kray's shooting of George Cornell in one of its bars nearly 40 years ago, stress it's not the pub's violent past that is putting off potential buyers, instead it's the run down state of the place and the amount of money required to do it up. - Independent On Sunday​