Eric Pickles: we’ll make 40,000 families homeless; Cheryl & Ashley ‘together’

From political intrigue, to business scandal to scurrilous tales of the rich and famous, our trawl through the gutters of Britain's Sunday papers is posted before 12 noon every week.

ERIC PICKLES: WE'LL MAKE 40,000 FAMILIES HOMELESSA letter from communities secretary Eric Pickles to David Cameron, written by a civil servant, has been leaked to the Observer.  It says Pickles believes welfare cuts will make 40,000 families homeless and the cost of housing them will mean the decision to cap benefits per household at £500 will cost the government more money than it saves.

MILIBAND OFFERS CROSS-PARTY TALKS ON ELDERLYLabour leader Ed Miliband has told the Sunday Telegraph that he has written to David Cameron and Nick Clegg offering to put aside party differences, and his own policies, to work together for a solution to the problem of funding care of the elderly. He wants to consider the 'Dilnot proposal' to create a market for old-age care insurance.

CAMERON TO PULL 800 TROOPS OUT OF AFGHANISTANDavid Cameron is expected to announce this week the withdrawal of 800 further troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2012, bringing the total below 9,000 for the first time since the 'surge' of 2009. The Sunday Times says Cameron has been forced to act after Barack Obama decided to pull out 33,000 US troops by September 2012.

GOVERNMENT CONSULTS OVER IMMIGRATION 'LOOPHOLE'The government is consulting on a 'loophole' in immigration legislation, opened up by Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which it is says is being used by illegal immigrants to dodge deportation. The Article lays down a right to "a family life" and can be used to justify remaining in the UK, the Sunday Telegraph reports.

VIRAL MOTHER-IN-LAW'S WILD PHOTOS REVEALEDThe Mail on Sunday has done what it does best and dug up the dirt – this time on Carolyn Bourne, whose etiquette advice to her son's fiancée went viral. Prim Bourne had her first child out of wedlock and is "on her third husband". What's more, Facebook photos show a group of young men with their pants down in her kitchen.

CHOMSKY COMES OUT AGAINST HUGO CHAVEZUS academic Noam Chomsky has long been a prominent supporter of Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez and has even been feted by Chavez, who has read his books, says the Observer. Now, though, he is publishing an open letter in which he accuses his former friend of grabbing too much power and intimidating his country's judiciary.

PRINCE ALBERT OF MONACO WEDS 'RUNAWAY' BRIDEFormer Olympic swimmer, Charlene Wittstock, was persuaded to stay in Monaco and marry Prince Albert after emergency last-minute talks, the Sunday Express reports. She had been reported to be running from the wedding after claims of infidelity and illegitimate children, but married yesterday in front of guests including Roger Moore.

BARRY FLATMAN: KVITOVA BEATS SHARAPOVA WITH TIMING"The gift of timing is unsurpassed as a tennis attribute; be it in the nerveless way Petra Kvitova dispatched a stunning ace directly down the middle of Wimbledon’s Centre Court to win what will surely be the first of many Grand Slam titles, or the precise moment this young Czech has chosen to claim prominence in a sport desperate for a new champion," writes Barry Flatman in the Sunday Times.PRINCE CHARLES IS 'MEDDLING' IN GOVERNMENTPrince Charles summoned seven senior ministers to meet him in Clarence House in just ten months, the Mail on Sunday has discovered through a freedom of information request. Environment minister Caroline Spelman was called to his office to discuss "tree health". Other visitors include George Osborne, Grant Shapps and Michael Gove.

CHERYL AND ASHLEY COLE: 'BACK TOGETHER'The News of the World publishes an "exclusive" picture which "proves" that Cheryl Cole is back together with her ex-husband, footballer Ashley. The picture shows a brown blob which is supposed to be Cheryl's head in close proximity to what might be Ashley at a party in London as Cheryl supposedly led Ashley upstairs to her suite.

GORDON RAMSAY'S FATHER-IN-LAW 'LED TRIPLE LIFE'Gordon Ramsay's father-in-law, and former business manager, Chris Hutcheson was revealed in May as the holder of a superinjunction banning the press from revealing he had lived a double life with two families. Now, the Sunday Mirror claims Hutcheson was also in a husband-and-wife-style relationship with a third woman, Sara Stewart. ·