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David Laws resignation dominates papers

BBC Published May 30, 2010 Reviewed Jun 30, 2026 ✓ Reviewed by citations.press editors
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The Sunday Telegraph, external - whose sister paper revealed David Laws's expenses claims - says his frontbench career has "come to an untimely end" but the fact remains he did "break the rules".

Political columnist Matthew d'Ancona believes the resignation is "deeply embarrassing" for David Cameron.

For the News of the World, external, Mr Laws is "the first major casualty" of the coalition but his decision to quit was "dignified, swift and right". The paper says the resignation is a "personal tragedy" for him and the government.

The Observer , externaland Sunday Express, external say the coalition is in "turmoil".

The Sunday Mirror , externaland Mail on Sunday, external agree, saying it has been "rocked" by the departure of David Laws who, the Mail says, had "the shortest cabinet career in modern political history".

The Sunday Times, external believes he has experienced an "extraordinarily rapid political rise and fall".

The Independent on Sunday, external says the former Chief Secretary to the Treasury is a "broken man".

The business of government goes on, and the Sunday Times, external reports that George Osborne is offering "fresh concessions" on plans to raise capital gains tax.

According to the paper, the chancellor is abandoning a reduction in the threshold for the tax on savings and investments from £10,000 to £2,500.

Mr Osborne is also, says the paper, privately ruling out a 50% top rate.

But in an interview with the paper, cabinet minister Chris Huhne warns the coalition could unravel over the issue.

"The Dead Sea" is how the Sunday Telegraph, external describes the large area of the Gulf of Mexico that has been engulfed by the oil spill.

Its reporter in Louisiana says that at this time of year the waters should be "churning with trout" with "terns and pelicans swooping on prey".

The Observer, external reports from an area of Nigeria whose "agony dwarfs the Gulf oil spill".

"Pools of crude" leak incessantly from 40-year-old rusty pipes, it says.

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