Sunday papers – 21 July 2019

Boris

If he is confirmed as the next Prime Minister on Tuesday, Boris may have a fight on his hands, reports the Express.

A HARDCORE group of Remainer Tory MPs have told leadership frontrunner Boris Johnson that they will bring down his Government if he pursues a no deal Brexit.
The Sunday Express can reveal details of Thursday’s stormy showdown, when rebellious Remainer MPs were called up to Boris Johnson’s office. The favourite to replace Theresa May as Prime Minister when the Conservative Party poll results are confirmed on Tuesday was laughed at when he demanded their loyalty.
The meeting came shortly after MPs made a no-deal Brexit more difficult by blocking any suspension of Parliament – mooted as a way around MPs voting against no-deal and scuppering Brexit on October 31.

With the former Foreign Secretary likely to move into no. 10 this week, the Independent reports on a demo against him.

A “Boris blimp” flew over Parliament Square as protesters gathered for another major march with the aim of stopping Brexit.
The inflatable – modelled on a similar protest against Donald Trump – mocked the likely next prime minister with dishevelled hair, mismatched running gear and salmon-pink skin.
The caricature of Mr Johnson also featured a t-shirt emblazoned with a bus and the figure £350m, after his infamous false claim about the rewards for the NHS from leaving the EU.

ITV News also has the story.

An inflatable “Boris Blimp” has been launched in Parliament Square by anti-Brexit protesters.
Boris Johnson is widely expected to be named as winner of the Tory leadership contest on Tuesday, and is the protest’s main political target.
The “No to Boris, Yes to Europe” demonstration will proceed from Mayfair’s Park Lane to Parliament Square in Westminster.
The balloon is inspired by the “Baby Trump” blimp that mocked US President Donald Trump during his visit to the UK last month.

The Guardian claims the demo also called for a second referendum.

Thousands of demonstrators from across the country assembled in central London today to march against Brexit, and Boris Johnson’s likely move into No 10, as well as to push for a second Brexit referendum.
At first sight, the message of the “No to Boris, yes to Europe” march, taking place three days before Johnson is expected to become Tory leader, seemed to be unambiguous.

iNews takes a look at his potential cabinet.

Jacob Rees-Mogg is potentially in line to join the government frontbench for the first time if Boris Johnson becomes Prime Minister.
The North East Somerset MP has never before held a government job across his nine years in Parliament, but The Times and The Telegraph both reported on Saturday that the pro-Brexit backbencher is tipped to become Chief Secretary to the Treasury if Mr Johnson wins the Conservative leadership contest.
The role would see Mr Rees-Mogg sometimes attend Cabinet, and place him as second-in-command to the new Chancellor, which is rumoured to be Liz Truss, Sajid Javid or Matt Hancock.
Scandal-plagued former ministers Gavin Williamson and Priti Patel are expected to make Cabinet comebacks under Mr Johnson, who has said that his entire Cabinet “must be reconciled” with the prospect of a potential no-deal Brexit.

And the Mail reports that the current chancellor knows when his time is up.

Outgoing Chancellor Philip Hammond has been spotted packing up his belongings at Downing Street today as he prepares for life on the outside as a Remainer rebel.
Mr Hammond was seen loading an array of luggage including cases, bags and holdalls, into the boot of a black saloon outside his residence at Number 11.
It comes just one day after he threatened to back a vote of no confidence in Boris Johnson if he tries to take Britain out of the EU without a deal in October.

The Sun says he’s gone.

PHILIP Hammond has packed his bags and left Downing Street after he threatened to bring down Boris Johnson’s government to block a No Deal Brexit.
The Chancellor – whose official resident is at 11 Downing Street – was seen loading suitcases into the back of a car ahead of what are almost certainly his final days in the job.
He had branded Brexiteers “vulgar” and “thoughtless” as he let rip on Boris and other Leavers in his last days in No11.
In a hard-hitting interview in French paper Le Monde (The World) he was asked repeatedly if he would vote no confidence in the next government if it went for No Deal, but he refused to rule it out.

Labour Party

The party will try and enrol dissident Tory MPs reports the Guardian.

Labour will seek immediate talks with Tory ministers who resign from the government on Wednesday – including the chancellor, Philip Hammond – in the hope of building a cross-party alliance to prevent Boris Johnson from embracing a no-deal Brexit.
The plans, revealed to the Observer by shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer, underline the extent of opposition the probable next prime minister will face from across the House of Commons if he fails to negotiate a new Brexit deal that can pass through parliament by late autumn.

There’s more anti-semitism in the Times.

Jeremy Corbyn faced a fresh crisis last night after it emerged that one of his closest allies had declined to suspend a Labour member accused of anti- semitism and racially abusing a mixed-race employee.
Thomas Gardiner, Labour’s head of governance and legal, is also the subject of a complaint by a party employee about his management style.
The news comes on the eve of an emergency meeting of the parliamentary Labour Party, where MPs will challenge Corbyn over his personal failure to tackle discrimination against Jews and tell him the issue could cost him his leadership.

And the Independent has news of some of the party’s policies.

Rubbish collection, cleaning and school dinner services will be taken back by local councils, under Labour plans to stop taxpayers being “ripped off” by private firms.
The party has pledged to reverse four decades of outsourcing in local government, blaming it for “scandals” such as the collapse of Carillion at a cost of £150m.
If he wins power, Jeremy Corbyn will legislate to ensure the default option is for the public sector to deliver its own services – instead of the current £80bn being spent on outside contracts.

Councils should not outsource so much, reports BBC News.

Labour wants councils in England to carry out services themselves rather than employ private firms, the shadow chancellor has said.
John McDonnell said he wants to limit the outsourcing of services such as bin collections by obliging councils to run them when existing private contracts expire.
Cleaning and school dinners could also be taken back in-house under the plans.
The government said decisions should be left with local councils.

Lib Dems

Dissident Tories could be targeted by the LibDems reports the Times.

As many as six Conservative MPs are due to hold talks with the Liberal Democrats this week with the aim of derailing Brexit and Boris Johnson’s premiership.
Sources close to the talks say the discussions will include the possibility of a vote of no confidence in Johnson or even the option of Tory MPs defecting to the anti-Brexit party.
If only two were to switch, it would immediately deny Boris Johnson a parliamentary majority if, as expected, he is named Conservative leader on Tuesday.

The party’s leadership tussle is heating up, says the Independent.

The Liberal Democrat leadership race is on a knife-edge with postal votes cast splitting “almost 50-50” between Jo Swinson and Sir Ed Davey, The Independent has learned.
The figures were described as “a major surprise” by a source at the party’s headquarters – given Ms Swinson has been the odds-on favourite to win the contest on Monday.

EU

Our membership fee is even larger than predicted, says the Express.

BRITAIN put £2.6billion more into Europe in the past year, as Brexiteers slammed the increase in British taxpayers’ money being poured into “bottomless EU coffers”.
According to Treasury accounts published this week, Britain sent a total of £15.5billion to Brussels in the 12 months leading up to March 31, a 20 percent increase on the £12.9 billion the previous year.
Brexiteer Iain Duncan Smith, who is leading Boris Johnson’s campaign for Number 10, slammed the figures and took a swipe at Chancellor Philip Hammond for whipping up a “final vote fear tirade”.
Mr Hammond this week said he would not rule out backing a no-confidence vote in the government to stop the UK crashing out of the bloc without a deal.
The amount each member state contributes to the EU is calculated by its Gross National Income and the increase is due to the British economy’s growth.

An extra two billion pounds in just a year, says Westmonster.

The amount of money Britain is handing over to the European Union has surged by over £2 billion in the past year, according to a report this morning. Ridiculous.
Brussels was handed £15.5 billion in the year ending 31st March compared to £12.9 billion the year before, The Telegraph have revealed.
That’s an increase of 20%, with the UK still having failed to leave the European Union more than three years on from the referendum.
As a Treasury Spokesman explains: “Our contribution fluctuates between years depending on factors like economic performance and profile of EU spending. The amount goes up and down over the course of each seven-year agreed settlement.

Behind the scenes, the bloc has approached the prospective Prime Minister, reports the Times.

EU countries are secretly wooing Boris Johnson in a bid to thrash out a new Brexit plan that would avoid a no-deal disaster as he prepares to take over as prime minister this week.
Senior Irish politicians and diplomats have held peace talks with two of Johnson’s cabinet allies in recent days.
German and French figures, as well as the Dutch and Belgian governments, have also established contacts with Johnson’s team and signalled an intention to do a deal.

The Guardian also reports the covert talks.

Brussels is preparing to offer Boris Johnson a no-deal Brexit extension beyond 31 October in an attempt to help him keep the Conservative party together and provide one more chance to strike an agreement deal.
The extra period of EU membership would be used for renegotiation but could be billed to Conservative Brexiters as an opportunity to prepare further for leaving without a deal.
“It will be described as a technical delay to save Boris from political embarrassment but then we will have time to find an agreement,” said one senior EU diplomat.

HS2

Will the incoming PM scrap the High Speed rail plan?  The Telegraph reports.

Boris Johnson is considering plans to put the southern half of High Speed 2 on ice amid mounting concerns about the costs of the scheme.
The Tory leadership contender, who is expected to enter Downing Street on Wednesday, has been studying proposals to begin building the railway line in the North, rather than London, as part of a set of policy changes designed to demonstrate a focus on “left behind” regions and towns.
The plans, discussed as part of his team’s “transition” work in readiness for taking office, would involve pushing back construction of the southern half of the line, between London and Birmingham, and giving the green light to the phase connecting the West Midlands with Leeds and Manchester.

Iran

The Royal Navy was not in a position to help the oil tanker seized by Iran, reports the Telegraph.

Britain has admitted its nearest warship was one hour away from the merchant vessel seized by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday and could do nothing to help.
Penny Mordaunt, the defence secretary, said the incident happened in Omani waters and was a “hostile act”.
But she said the British Type 23 frigate HMS Montrose was 60 minutes away from being able to help the Stena Impero when it was boarded by Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Montrose arrived on the scene too late, reports the Mail.

A Royal Navy warship raced to help a British oil tanker that was captured by Iran last night but arrived ten minutes too late, a defence source revealed today.
HMS Montrose, which was patrolling the Persian Gulf, was forced to do a U-turn when it received orders to assist the UK-flagged Stena Impero, which had been seized by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Stena Impero was still in Omani waters when the orders were sent, but by the time HMS Montrose arrived the vessel had been taken and redirected into Iranian territorial waters.

And the Times reports the foreign secretary’s warning.

Jeremy Hunt warned today that Iran’s seizure of a British-flagged tanker in the Gulf had “very serious” security implications as footage emerged showing balaclava-clad commandos boarding the ship.
The foreign secretary, speaking after a meeting of the government’s emergency committee Cobra this afternoon, said the Stena Impero was seized in Omani waters in “clear contravention of international law”.
He said: “This is totally and utterly unacceptable. It raises very serious questions about the security of British shipping, and indeed international shipping, in the Strait of Hormuz.”

Several of the media have video of the moment Iranian troops landed on the tanker.  The Mail is one of them.

A new propaganda video captures the moment Iranian Revolutionary Guard commandos drop from a helicopter to hijack a British tanker.
Footage shows troops wearing ski masks and carrying machine guns rappelling to the deck of the British-flagged tanker Stena Impero from their aircraft last night.
It comes as Jeremy Hunt expressed his ‘extreme disappointment’ in the regime. He explained that any measures to be taken over Iran’s seizure of the British-flagged tanker in the Gulf will be announced in Parliament on Monday.
The UK foreign secretary wrote on Twitter: ‘Just spoke to Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and expressed extreme disappointment that having assured me last Saturday that Iran wanted to deescalate situation they have behaved in the opposite way.’

Sky News also has the footage.

Footage showing the moment Iran’s Revolutionary Guard seized a British-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz has been released – with the UK describing the incident as a “hostile act”.
The video, released by Iranian state media, shows armed troops wearing ski masks sitting in a helicopter as it hovers above the Stena Impero. Several of them are then seen rappelling onto the ship’s deck as speedboats surround the oil tanker.
Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt said the Stena Impero, which was not carrying cargo, had been in Omani waters when it was stopped by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard on Friday afternoon.

The Sun calls the film ‘dramatic’.

DRAMATIC footage shows balaclava-clad Iranian commandos hijacking a British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.
Video released today captures the moment Tehran troops abseil onto the Stena Impero with 23 crew on board last night.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard launched a gunboat and helicopter raid on the tanker, which is registered in the UK, claiming it had turned off its tracker and ignored warnings.
Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt said in a Twitter message that the ship has been seized in Omani waters “in clear contravention of international law”.

Further measures are being considered, reports the Telegraph.

Ministers are drawing up plans to target the Iranian regime with sanctions after its forces seized a British-flagged tanker in the Gulf.
Jeremy Hunt is expected to use a Commons statement on Sunday to announce a package of diplomatic and economic measures, including possible asset freezes, in response to the capture of the Stena Impero.
The UK could also push for European Union and United Nations sanctions to be reimposed on the regime after they were lifted in 2016 as part of a deal on Iran’s nuclear programme, which saw billions of dollars of assets unfrozen and allowed the country’s oil to be sold internationally.
Following a meeting of the government’s Cobra emergency committee on Saturday, the Foreign Secretary said the seizure of the Stena Impero raised “very serious questions” about the security of British and international vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

BBC

So that’s what it spends our licence fee on!  The Telegraph reports.

It is thought to be the most expensive drama ever shown on the BBC – and one of the corporation’s biggest leaps of faith.
A lavish adaptation of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials will air this autumn, the first instalment of a planned trilogy and intended to prove that the corporation can match Netflix or Amazon when it comes to big-budget entertainment.
Adaptations of Pullman’s stories have a chequered history – a film version starring Nicole Kidman flopped at the box office. But the BBC has taken the rare step of beginning work on the second instalment of the television adaptation, at a cost of millions, without knowing if audiences will warm to the first.

Air travel

Going on holiday to Cairo?  Better make some checks.  The Telegraph says:

British Airways has suspended flights to Cairo for seven days amid security concerns.
Some passengers at Heathrow Airport were told after they travelled there to board their flights on Saturday.
A letter handed to travellers and later posted on social media said the decision was made “as a precaution” following a review of “security arrangements”.
The latest FCO guidance states there is a “heightened risk of terrorism” against flights from the UK to Egypt and says there are already “additional security measures are in place”.

It’s just a precaution, says ITV News.

British Airways has announced it has suspended all flights to Cairo for seven days as part of a security precaution.
The airline said all flights into the Egyptian capital have been stopped.
In a statement, the company said: “We constantly review our security arrangements at all our airports around the world, and have suspended flights to Cairo for seven days as a precaution to allow for further assessment.

The Star reports that a German airline has done the same.

LUFTHANSA has joined British Airways in suspending all flights to Egyptian capital Cairo.
Germany’s largest airline has cancelled all flights from Munich and Frankfurt to the Nile River city, citing the same security concerns as British Airways stated this evening.
It said in a statement tonight: “As safety is the number one priority of Lufthansa, the airline has temporarily suspended its flights to #Cairo today as a precaution, while further assessment is being made.”