What the Sunday papers said
The Conservative party has called for the scrapping of the government's proposed identity card scheme and said it would use the money saved to build more prisons instead. The plan to drop ID cards, devised by Tory leader David Cameron and shadow Home Secretary David Davis, would save an estimated £15bn, which would then be ploughed back into building 18 new jails. - Sunday Times
A smoker's lobby group has sent vivid warnings to members of the House of Lords urging them not to support a total ban on smoking in public places. Pro-smoking group FOREST has sent peers a series of illustrated postcards, one of which depicts an empty pub and the slogan 'Get rid of the smoke, not the smokers'. Supporters of the campaign include artist David Hockney and celebrity chef Anthony Worrall Thompson. - Observer
Leisure group Whitbread may update the market on its plans to sell 250 of its pubs when it releases a trading statement on Tuesday (June 20). Around 250 outlets have been selected for sale because they are next to a Whitbread budget hotel. The move should raise about £400m and the company is expected to say the sales process in continuing. - Mail On Sunday
Drinks giant Diageo is "a good place to be in a difficult market", believes James Barrow, lead portfolio manager at Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney and Strauss. "Food and drink stocks tend to hold up better because people conclude consumption is not in lockstep with the health of the economy," he added. Diageo's international expansion, especially into markets such as China, was another reason to favour the stock, he said. - The Business
And finally…
Parisians have taken to that most British of institutions, the pub quiz. 15 British-style pubs in the French capital have begun hosting weekly quizzes. Paraic Macguire, who hosts one such quiz in his Irish-themed bar, the Green linnet, was asked what was the main difference between the British and French approach to participating in a French pub quiz. "The French drink a bit less," he said.
