As 16 million people digest the news that their gas bills are going up 35 percent, courtesy of British Gas, blame for the staggering rise is flying thick and fast.

Centrica, the British Gas parent company, says it is unable to resist the sharp rises on world oil and gas markets and that any attempt to impose windfall taxes would crimp its investment programme.

Energy watchdogs question how the company can be allowed to impose such steep rises at the same time as it makes healthy profits for its shareholders.

Opposition political parties say the government has not built sufficient gas storage facilities and has failed to negotiate an open market across the European energy sector.

What do you think? Are you going to feel the pinch this Winter?

The latest initiative to tackle anti-social behaviour and an apparent loophole in airport security feature prominently on Thursday’s front pages, along with the Chelsea gun siege and the Austrian house of horrors.

The Guardian says Home Secretary Jacqui Smith  wants police to harass anti-social youths and make life as unpleasant for them as they do for their victims. Young thugs should be hounded and filmed.  Story here

The Daily Telegraph is among several newspapers to pick up a BBC 2 “Newsnight” expose that foreign employees working in sensitive airport locations are not having their criminal records checked because of the time and effort that would involve. Story here 

The Daily Mail features a picture of the wife of the Chelsea siege gunman looking on in horror during the standoff and runs the story under the headline: “I Love My Wife Dearly” — the message the paper says he threw out of a window before his death. Story here

A report that suggests Britain wastes around 10 billion pounds worth of food a year is the subject of The Independent front page. The paper says most of the waste is made up of entirely untouched food products. Story here

The Sun splashes what it says is the last picture of Elisabeth Fritzl before she was imprisoned for 24 years in a cellar by her father. Story here, while the Daily Mirror leads on the father’s insistence that he is not a monster because at least he did not kill his daughter and the children he fathered with her. Story here

The Times carries allegations from an Iraqi cleaner and two cooks that a culture of sexual harassment, abuse and bullying exists at the British embassy in Baghdad. Story here

The prospect of household energy bills rising up to 40 percent this Winter as oil prices continue to go up is the lead story in the Daily Express. Story here 

The Financial Times meanwhile concentrates on the link-up between Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy of the U.S. Story here

The destruction and loss of life caused by the cyclone in Burma features on many of the broadsheet front pages, while Chelsea’s win, which keeps the title race going until the final day of the football season, is promoted in all the papers.

DAILY MAIL: Abortion: Fight to Save 2,500 Babies Every Year

MPs will begin a fight to cut the number of abortions by limiting a woman’s right to have a termination for social reasons, from the current 24 weeks to 20, the paper says. Story here

DAILY MIRROR: Boy from the Cellar

The paper features a picture of one of the children born in the cellar in Austria where his mother was kept captive for 24 years. Alex was one of three who was brought up in the family home upstairs. Story here

DAILY EXPRESS: Secret 25 percent Pay Rise for MPs

The paper says politicians are secretly plotting to award themselves a pay rise of up to 14,000 pounds a year, taking their salaries to more than 75,000 pounds. Story here

THE INDEPENDENT: Burma’s Wind of Change

The paper goes with dramatic pictures on its front of the cyclone which has swept across the country, killing thousands, and forcing the military regime to make an unprecedented plea for international help. Story here

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Estate Agencies Shut 150 Branches a Week

A further sign of the sub-prime lending crisis and credit crunch hitting home came with the paper’s disclosure that estate agencies were closing 150 branches a week with the loss of 4,000 jobs. Story here

THE TIMES: 10,000 Dead in Cyclone

The paper goes with the stark headline and the same main picture as the Independent to show the impact of the cyclone in Burma. Story here

THE GUARDIAN: Burma Seeks Emergency Aid as Cyclone Kills at Least 10,000

Again, the same picture of a monk crouching under a tangle of fallen tree trunks as it is reported the military leaders are willing to accept foreign help. Story here

The Times says Gordon Brown is facing the first electoral test of his premiership. It also features London mayoral candidates Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson. Story here

The Daily Mail leads with how motorists are being fleeced by speed cameras or traffic wardens to the annual sum of £800m. Story here

The Daily Mirror leads with an artists impression of what Elisabeth Fritzl might look like now at the age of 42. Story here

The Daily Telegraph says 150 hostels, intended to house offenders, have been built in residential areas across the UK with little or no consultation with locals. Story here

The search is on for the last Nazis accused of terrible war crimes, according to The Independent. Story here

The Daily Express says the cost of living for the average family has gone up by 11.5% in the past year (story here) and also features a picture on its front page of Josef Fritzl on a beach holiday while his children were locked in his cellar in Austria.

The Guardian says police will reject toughter action on cannabis possession when the drug is upgraded to class B. Story here