Newspaper headlines: 'Johnson's ultimatum' By BBC News

Staff Published duration 3 September 2019

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Most of the front pages feature pictures of Boris Johnson making his address outside 10 Downing Street.

The headline in the Sun is "Boris snaps". The paper describes Mr Johnson's warning to Conservative rebels - not to force him into calling a snap general election - as a "Brexit showdown".

According to the Guardian, Number 10 had been considering such a move for several days. But it was "crystallised" by the determination of Tory rebels to support legislation to prevent a no-deal departure.

The Daily Mail and Financial Times find space in their Brexit coverage to focus on Project Yellowhammer - the Cabinet Office document outlining the government's plans for a no-deal departure. Ministers dismissed an earlier draft leaked last month, which predicted chaos at ports, and shortages of fresh food, medicines and fuel.

The Mail and Financial Times report that officials have updated the plan - a new version of that was due to be released today.

But they say the minister in charge of Brexit preparations, Michael Gove, has cancelled the publication because it makes similar warnings. A source tells the Financial Times "the whole thing was seen as far too pessimistic about no-deal".

Assessments of Boris Johnson's podium moment, outside Downing Street yesterday, are varied. The Daily Telegraph sees his threat of a snap election as a "bold move". It believes he has "nothing to fear" because most people in the country want to get Brexit over and done with. It also says he should "take comfort from the anxiety and division of the opposition".

There is similar confidence in the Sun . Under the headline "BoJo's defiance", its leader column says "voters will now see with crystal clarity Boris's absolute determination to uphold our democracy". It concludes that, after only seven weeks in office, Mr Johnson is "already a far better PM than his predecessor".

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The i also highlights differences between the two leaders, arguing that while Theresa May played out her last days as Prime Minister, Brexit became "little more than background noise". But it believes that, following Mr Johnson's announcement, the political temperature is now at "boiling point".

But the Daily Mirror argues a no-deal Brexit would be an "economic calamity" and describes Mr Johnson as a "Kamikaze PM" who should stop pretending that it is a viable option. It urges MPs to "vote for sanity" this week and rule out such a departure.

The Guardian expresses a similar view. Its editorial says every government since 2016 has been driven mad by Brexit's central contradiction: that there is an economic price to pay for the UK to take back control of its borders. It says Mr Johnson "leads the most demented" administration to date.

The website, Politico , resorts to sports metaphors to describe the significance of the moment. "After a summer of shadow boxing," it says, "the bell has finally rung for the big parliamentary Brexit battle."

Huffpost makes reference to the 1970s Clint Eastwood character, Dirty Harry, using as its headline his catchphrase, "do ya feel lucky, punk?". It believes that Mr Johnson "is certainly taking a massive risk".

Finally, the Times is one of several papers to report on new research which sheds light on why barn owls are white. Swiss scientists attached stuffed owls of varying colours to a zipwire, then propelled them through the air above tanks full of voles.