Newspaper headlines: UK 'won't bomb Syria', PM's 'fog over Europe' and Christmas ad avalanche begins

While political correspondents have been expecting MPs to vote on extending UK military action against Islamic State to Syria, some papers reckon David Cameron has parked the idea.

The Guardian says ministers, external were discussing a potential Commons motion with Labour MPs only 10 days ago, but that the prime minister abandoned his efforts after failing to convince enough of them to be sure of defeating a rebellion by backbench Conservatives.

There were, the paper says, "fears the prime minister would be weakened on the world stage by a second parliamentary defeat on military action in Syria", having also lost a vote two years ago.

According to the Times, external: "The decision to abandon the vote was also prompted by Russia joining the conflict on the side of [Syrian President Bashar al-Assad], creating the risk of clashes between British and Russian air forces."

Times diplomatic editor Roger Boyes describes, external the PM as caught in a "pincer movement" from "the combination of Russian fighters in the sky over Aleppo and [Labour leader] Jeremy Corbyn's non-interventionist legions on the ground in Westminster".

The Financial Times says, external: "Downing Street's re-evaluation comes as the foreign affairs select committee publishes a report today recommending that the government refrains from bringing to the Commons a motion requesting support for the air strikes in Syria." It quotes committee chairman Crispin Blunt saying that combat risks "needlessly compromising its independent diplomatic ability to support an international political solution".

The Daily Mirror says the report, external is critical of Mr Cameron for planning to bomb Syria as a simple response to the sense that "something must be done". As the Daily Mail reports, external, however, Labour committee members Mike Gapes and Ann Clwyd said they would back military action as part of a wider strategy but were outvoted by Tory and SNP colleagues.

Downing Street insists Mr Cameron's position hasn't changed - that he would only go back to the Commons if there was a clear consensus.

A number of papers subject the prime minster to some light ribbing, with several highlighting social media's ridicule of Downing Street for digitally adding a poppy to an existing photograph of David Cameron ahead of Remembrance Sunday. "Imagine the molten fury from Tory MPs and the Tory Press if somebody at Labour HQ photoshopped a poppy on to a picture of Jeremy Corbyn," says the Daily Mirror.

Cartoonist Pugh, in the Daily Mail, imagines a customer telling a poppy vendor: "Not for me. I'm having mine photoshopped on this year."

Meanwhile, the prime minister's appearance at an event to outline his new adoption policy is noteworthy in the Times for the reaction of the young girl at his side who "stuck her tongue out" as he began speaking. It continues: "Evidently the next part of his talk was no more enthralling, as she yawned loudly and rested her head on his shoulder."

Mr Cameron had earlier spoken about the policy on ITV's This Morning, where Times sketchwriter Patrick Kidd found him, external "a bit too keen to show that he is the smartest kid in class". He describes the PM's reaction when the show's entertainment reporter Rylan Clark teased his audience about David Beckham being mistaken for another celebrity in a gym.

"'Ooh, ooh,' said Mr Cameron, bouncing up and down and waving his hand. 'I know who it was. I saw it in the papers.' Pick me, sir," writes Kidd, imagining viewers thinking it must have been Tory backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg or long-serving peer Baroness Trumpington, rather than Ricky Gervais.

As the Mail's Quentin Letts saw it, external: "Mr Cameron sat opposite his interrogators, on edge, literally - barely half a buttock can have been properly supported on that sofa. He was full of adrenalin, bouncing up and down to the extent that he could have been trotting on a pony."

For the Telegraph's Michael Deacon, external, Mr Cameron "overdid the adjustment" in tone for daytime TV by saying security services needed additional powers to monitor internet activity to avoid the internet becoming a place for criminals to "do bad things". The writer says: "Do bad things. That was Mr Cameron's phrase... I don't know what demographic the prime minister thinks This Morning is aimed at; perhaps primary schoolchildren."

Cartoonists, meanwhile, take inspiration from the fog enveloping much of the UK to suggest a lack of clarity in the government's policies. Describing a "fog over Europe" the Independent's Dave Brown pictures the PM emitting a thick mist from his rear, while declaring "our demands [for EU reform] are clear".

Peter Brookes, in the Times, puts Mr Cameron's face on four "grounded" BA jets, marked EU deal, tax credits, Lords reform and Syria vote. The Telegraph's Adams pictures ministers, external blundering around in the fog with policy documents on the EU, school tests, "snooping" and tax credits, while - under the title Lest We Forget - the Guardian's Steve Bell has them lined up at a foggy Remembrance Day commemoration, asking: "What's Trident for again?"

We're barely into November but the festive season is already making its mark in the news and features pages. The first blows are being traded in the retailers' war of Christmas ads and the Telegraph's Harry Wallop relives what he saw behind the scenes at the filming of supermarket Waitrose's £1m effort.

"There is a home economist in the garden making a fake Christmas cake out of polystyrene and royal icing and more men with hipster beards than you can shake a clapperboard at," he writes. Much of the High Street will be releasing their adverts in the coming days, many with "premieres" at West End hotels, says Wallop, adding: "Waitrose, the first out of the blocks, is building the hype by releasing teasers on social media. Yes, really. Mini adverts for its adverts."

The Independent's Grace Dent has her eye, external at the opposite end of the supermarket shopping spectrum, saying the Lidl School of Christmas ad where "pupils learn how to jam a leftover parsnip into a Boxing Day sandwich and dress their dog as Good King Wenceslas" is "beautifully welcome" as an antidote to high-budget schmaltz.

"Its joy comes from the skewering of a dozen silly, slightly rubbish things that make up a brilliant British Christmas. Brussels sprouts, shabby Santas with flammable beards and rarely a word about religion."

Meanwhile, the Mail and Express are most excited about the Burberry fashion label's ad, which recreates the opening sequence of the Billy Elliot movie. "A starry cast has been assembled including supermodel Naomi Campbell, Downton Abbey's Michelle Dockery and Romeo Beckham, son of David and Victoria - with the music scored by Sir Elton John."

The Mail notes that Julie Walters, who played ballet teacher Mrs Wilkinson in the film, is also in the ad. But it suggests the film is a "strange source of inspiration" for the luxury brand worn by Romeo in the part of Billy. "His black tie outfit and classic Burberry scarf are a far cry from the clothes worn by characters in the film, which was set in a working-class town in the North East during the 1984-85 miners' strike."

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