What the Sunday papers said

Bob Ivell, head of Regent Inns, is being courted to head up a bid for Mitchells & Butlers. Mr Ivell has been approached by a rival consortium to that formed by Robert Tchenguiz, which is also looking at whether to make a move for the O'Neills and All Bar One operator. - Sunday Express​

Robert Tchenguiz is near to finalising a £400m refinancing of part of the Laurel Pub Company, which his R20 group owns. The arrangement, by a group of banks headed by Royal Bank of Scotland and Icelandic bank Kaupthing, is expected to be completed in days. The move could strengthen Mr Tchenguiz's hand as he ponders making a bid for Mitchells & Butlers. - Sunday Times​

Investors in Mitchells & Butlers are unlikely to accept any bid for the company below 600p. The managed pub group has performed well, returning more than £640m to shareholders since it was demerged from Six Continents three years ago, and there could be more to come. Shareholders should not rush to sell; there is plenty of juice left in M&B's tanks. - Sunday Times​

Gay pubs and clubs have become so over-run with straight revellers, attracted by the ambience of the gay scene, that they've been forced to introduce quotas on heterosexual partygoers. Many clubs in areas such as London's Soho and Manchester's Canal Street are now operating "gay majority" door policies to ensure they remain overwhelmingly gay. However efforts to protect their social way of life will, ironically, be set back by legislation which will soon make it illegal for a potential customer to be barred on the grounds of their sexuality. - Independent On Sunday​

Mercenaries employed by private security firms fighting insurgents in Iraq may soon come under the control of the same organisation that licenses pub door staff in the UK. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw last week told the Foreign Affairs Committee that he was considering making the Security Industry Association repsonsible for the security staff working in Iraq. Mr Straw argued the SIA had built up experience carrying out checks on staff in the UK and could "determine whether companies were fit and proper to operate" in Iraq. - Sunday Express​

One of the most chilling passages in the bill to introduce identity cards is section 13 which deals with 'invalidity and surrender' of ID cards. In effect it describes the removal of a person's identity by the state. Without a card it will be almost impossible to function, to exist as a citizen in the UK. Yet despite the cost to you, your card will not be your property. There needs to be a broad front against the lazy and stupid view that if you've nothing to hide you have nothing to fear from Labour's attack on liberty. - Observer​

Coca-Cola has come under fire for causing extreme water shortages in developing countries. War On Want has revealed that in some regions of India where the drinks firm has opened bottling operations, farmers have been unable to irrigate their fields. Coca-Cola uses 2.7 litres to make one litre of product. - Observer​

And finally...

It seems the Spanish are facing the same problem with binge-drinking as has been experienced in the UK in recent years. Riots in Barcelona last week were prompted by a huge drinking party, or botellon, which ran out of control. Attended by thousands of young people, it ended in violence and police baton charges. More than a third of Spanish teenagers admit they get drunk regularly. - Independent On Sunday​