Newspaper headlines: 'Jobs risk' and 'Zombie drug epidemic' By BBC News

Staff Published duration 12 September 2018

image copyright EPA image caption Spice is said to make people go into a zombie-like state

"Britain's Zombie Drug Epidemic" is the Daily Mirror's headline, which is accompanied by pictures of people high on the drug known as spice.

The paper warns that thousands of people may be hooked on the former legal high and says emergency services in some towns are struggling to cope.

Fat nation

The front page of the Daily Mail says Britain is "the third fattest nation in Europe " according to research from the World Health Organization.

A study of nine million people in 56 European countries found that only Malta and Turkey had higher levels of obesity, while 28% of people in the UK are said to be obese.

The National Obesity Forum tells the Mail the government will have to work quickly if the UK is to avoid becoming the fattest nation on earth.

image copyright PA

The Daily Mail is also warning that a no-deal Brexit deal could put holidays to Europe at risk

The paper says that anyone whose passport has less than six months to run could be turned away at borders if existing rules become obsolete at the end of March, when Britain leaves the European Union.

It says a Whitehall source is warning that the Passport Office could be overwhelmed by a surge in applications for new passports.

Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports "alarm" among business groups about Labour's plans to extend workers rights - which is the main front page story in the paper.

But Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell tells the paper that companies have "cried wolf" before - when Labour introduced the minimum wage - and that they'll make bigger profits if their workers are happy and productive.

The Times reports a rise in the number of children being caught drug dealing . It found that forces in Hampshire, Avon and Somerset, the West Midlands and West Wales had arrested or cautioned children who were just 11 or 12 years old.

The drugs policy think tank, Volteface, says young people are being used by adults to deal cannabis on their behalf and so should be treated as victims of exploitation rather than criminals.

'Wallets on wheels'

Several papers speculate that the eight year freeze on fuel duty could be about to end, following comments by the chancellor, Philip Hammond.

He told MPs the freeze had cost the Treasury £46bn in lost revenue and would cost another £38bn if it continued. The Mail says it's his " biggest hint yet " that there could be a rise.

The Sun says a rise in fuel duty would be folly because the drag on the economy from hammering every driver would outweigh the extra revenue.

Motorists' organisation the AA is quoted in the Telegraph as saying that drivers shouldn't be seen as " wallets on wheels ".

The right trousers

Smart trousers containing artificial muscles to help elderly people stay mobile for longer are featured in the Guardian and the Times.

The design has been showcased at the British Science Festival in Hull and includes a pneumatic stiffening device to hold the knee securely when people want to stand up and inflatable muscles.