The Times reports that backbench MPs routinely skip the meetings of powerful Commons committees, undermining parliament's power to scrutinise the government.
An analysis by the Financial Times finds that the Tory leader, David Cameron, has made just one speech on health and education in the past nine months, compared with 18 on the economy, fuelling warnings that the party's modernisation message could be blurred by its response to the recession.
Scotland's first minister, Alex Salmond, insists that his country's financial services industry remains "strong" despite the extraordinary problems faced by its biggest banks.
Boris Johnson's policies on the credit crunch and climate change are "shocking", says Johann Hari in the Independent.
