Review of the Papers, Monday 21 May

The chairman of the British Medical Association, James Johnson, resigned suddenly last night over accusations that he was siding with the government in the debacle over training jobs for junior doctors. Mr Johnson said the criticism of him had "got very nasty" and he felt he had lost the confidence of some of his colleagues. His decision to quit made him the highest profile casualty so far in the increasingly heated row between ministers and doctors, which has seen white-coat protest marches in Whitehall and an apology for the fiasco by the health secretary, Patricia Hewitt.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,2084293,00.html

The industry minister, Margaret Hodge, yesterday provoked a furious reaction from politicians and refugee groups by proposing that local British-born families should get priority for scarce social housing over newly arrived immigrants, with the exception of refugees.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,2084483,00.html

As many as 5,000 businesses and public-sector bodies would be forced to buy greenhouse gas permits under plans for a mandatory carbon-trading scheme to be proposed this week by ministers. A white paper, which is to be published on Wednesday and which will take forward Tony Blair’s plans for new nuclear power stations, is expected to commit the government to a world-leading emissions trading scheme going far beyond a European Union-wide system and plans by US states.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/8128a042-0711-11dc-93e1-000b5df10621.html

Dozens of large employers are at risk of a crackdown by Revenue & Customs, which is examining the growing use of schemesthat exempt holiday pay from national insurancecontributions. Increasing numbers of big companies including chemist Boots and Nationwide building society have adopted "holiday pay schemes", which save employers and employees millions of pounds a year in NICs.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/74b78032-0737-11dc-93e1-000b5df10621.html

Families face a new tax on rubbish and fines for breaking strict rules on recycling household waste under proposals to be unveiled by the Government this week. Households could be required to divide their rubbish into at least five different bins or boxes in an attempt to encourage more recycling.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/05/21/ntrash21.xml

Gordon Brown is to risk a backlash from environment campaigners and the Labour Left by endorsing a blueprint for a new generation of nuclear power stations. The programme, coupled with a big expansion in renewable energy, will be spelt out in the Government's White Paper on energy to be published on Wednesday.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/05/21/nbrown21.xml

Council workers, charity staff and doctors will be required to tip off police about anyone whom they believe could commit a violent crime, under secret Home Office plans. Civil liberties campaigners last night said that the proposal raised the prospect of people being placed under surveillance and detained even though they have committed no offence.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article1816772.ece