Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Sunday 4 Nov 2012

1. PM & REBEKAH: CACHE OF TEXTS REVEALED

Further personal text messages between David Cameron and Rebekah Brooks have been published. In one text, published in The Mail On Sunday, Cameron thanks the media boss for letting him ride one of her horses, which he found "fast, unpredictable and hard to control but fun". In another, Brooks praises Cameron for a Tory conference speech, saying she "cried twice" as she watched it.

2. ONLY 7% OF BRITS WOULD VOTE ROMNEY

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are campaigning hard in key swing states ahead of Tuesday's election. American polls are showing the candidates to be almost neck and neck. However, a poll published in The Sunday Times shows that 70% of Britons would vote for Obama, with just 7% saying they would vote Romney.

3. CHILD BENEFIT CLAIMANTS FACE QUIZ

Couples who claim child benefit could face grilling on personal issues as the government strives to reduce its benefits output. One thousand extra staff are being hired by the HMRC to quiz claimants on issues including the "stability" of their relationship and whether they have a “volatile history” of break-ups and reconciliations.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

4. MILIBANDS HATCH 'LIVING WAGE' PLAN

Ed and David Miliband are working together to develop Labour plans for a "living wage" of over £7.20 an hour – rising to more than £8.30 in London – for millions of workers, reports The Observer. Relations between the brothers are believed to be warming again after Ed defeated David in the 2010 Labour leadership contest.

5. UK TO CUT AID TO BOOMING INDIA

Britain is to slash its aid to India, the international development secretary Justine Greening will announce this week. The UK currently hands £280m a year to India. This has proved controversial, since India's economy is booming and the country has its own space programme. In February, India's finance minister said he did not want even a "peanut" from Britain.

6. CHURCHES FEAR FOR CHARITABLE STATUS

The charitable status of churches could be under threat after the Charity Commission said that it cannot be assumed they are acting for the good of the public. Referring to the outcome of a recent tribunal, the commission's legal head said "there can be no presumption that religion... is for the public benefit, even in the case of Christianity or the Church of England".

7. CRISIS OF MORALE HITS POLICE FORCE

There is a "national crisis" of morale among police, says Metropolitan Police commissioner Lord Stevens, as a survey of officers finds that 95% of serving officers feel the government does not support the force. In the same survey, published in The Sunday Telegraph, 56% of officers said they had recently considered leaving the force.

8. 'MONKEY' FAN: 'I'M JUST ONE OF THE BOYS'

The football fan who was pictured apparently making a monkey gesture at Manchester United's Danny Welbeck has claimed he is not racist but "just one of the boys", reports The Mirror. Gavin Kirkham, 28, reportedly told a friend he had drunk "a couple of pints" before the match and is now "totally ashamed" of himself.

9. AIRPORT INQUIRY HEAD SLAPS DOWN BORIS

The head of the commission deciding the future of Britain's airports has told Boris Johnson to leave politics out of the debate. After the London mayor said a third runway "simply will not happen", Sir Howard Davies tells The Observer that option will "stay on the table", adding: "The public process I want is about the issues rather than about the timing and the politics".

10. VAN PERSIE SINKS ARSENAL

Robin van Persie struck against his former club as Manchester United beat 10-man Arsenal 2-1 at Old Trafford yesterday. The win put United top of the table and left Arsenal with just 15 points from 10 games - their worst start under Arsene Wenger. Their north London rivals Tottenham were booed off after losing 1-0 at home to Wigan.