Newspaper headlines: May's Brexit approach sparks Tory fury By BBC News

Staff Published duration 7 April 2019

image caption Party leaders are under pressure, according to the front pages. The Sunday Telegraph says Tory activists are going "on strike" by refusing to campaign for the party, while donations have "dried up" because members feel betrayed by Theresa May over her Brexit approach.

image caption Meanwhile, the Observer reports that the prime minister is being warned "by her mutinous MPs that they will move to oust her within weeks" if the UK is forced to take part in European elections next month and extend its EU membership beyond the end of June.

image caption The Sunday Times front page reads little better for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. It accuses his party of failing to take action against "hundreds of members accused of anti-Semitism" under his leadership. Labour says all complaints are fully investigated and that staff named in the report were ensuring claims were fast-tracked.

image caption "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," is the 007-inspired headline of the Sunday Express, as it reports that the Duke of Cambridge has spent time with UK security services. Prince William has been shadowing members of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ to learn about counter-terrorism operations.

image caption Another royal story leads the Mail on Sunday. It says the Duchess of Sussex has decided not to use the usual royal doctors to oversee the birth of her first child. Meghan has chosen to assemble her own woman-led team which, the paper suggests, could cost "tens of thousands".

image caption The Sunday Mirror's dramatic front-page headline asks: "Did your country kill my girlfriend?" The story focuses on a meeting between Charlie Rowley - whose partner Dawn Sturgess died as a result of the Salisbury novichok poisoning - and Russia's ambassador to the UK.

image caption The Daily Star Sunday leads on claims that an unnamed Premier League footballer has been accused of filming himself sexually assaulting a woman while "high on drink and drugs" in a club.

image caption And the Sunday People leads with a claim that a man convicted of murdering a mother-of-two in a shooting is demanding IVF treatment from his cell to allow him to become a father.

Theresa May's decision to reach out to Jeremy Corbyn over Brexit has provoked fury in her party, according to the Sunday Telegraph and the Observer.

The Telegraph says Conservative donors have closed their wallets and Tory campaigners are refusing to fight local elections because of what they see as a betrayal by their leader.

In an editorial, the paper says the prime minister's approach has gone from incompetent to dangerous, and asks why cabinet members and MPs are still tolerating what it calls "this travesty".

The Observer says she has been warned by her mutinous MPs that they will move to oust her if the UK is forced to take part in European elections and extend its EU membership beyond June.

The paper says MPs fear many Conservatives would boycott the poll, increasing the chances of the far-right and Nigel Farage's new Brexit party.

Meanwhile, the Sunday Express says the Vote Leave campaign has asked to restart operations, while the Remain group, Best for Britain, backed by George Soros, is building up a "massive" campaign war-chest.

The Sunday Times reports that Mrs May is preparing to offer her Labour counterpart a "Boris lock," designed to make it difficult for any future Eurosceptic prime minister to overturn the agreement.

Under the plan, the withdrawal bill would enshrine a customs union in law, the paper says.

According to the Mail on Sunday, Mrs May's condition for agreeing to Labour's demand - meaning a humiliating climb down for her - is that it's called something else.

image copyright PA

Michael Savage in the Observer, however, predicts cross-party talks will fail, with both parties preferring to allow talks to run their course - and then blame the other side for the lack of progress.

He concludes the most likely scenario is that the UK will get a long extension of its EU membership with a get-out clause.

In its editorial, the Sunday Times also predicts there will be no quick resolution, saying it's "now more likely than not" that Britain will take part in European parliament elections.

However, newly appointed junior Brexit minister James Cleverly writes in the Sun on Sunday that the government is seeking to avoid this. He urges MPs to realise "there's no such thing as a perfect Brexit" and adds that "future governments will be able to make changes".

Future leaders?

Several papers examine who might lead the Conservatives in the future.

That alliance has apparently been codenamed "BAmber". However, the Times doesn't rule out a Michael Gove-Rudd alliance, or "MAmber".

The Mail also eyes up a possible replacement for Jeremy Corbyn, amid suggestions his health could force him to stand down. It reckons shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey is being seen as the next possible Labour leader.

Meanwhile, the Sunday Times claims to have seen emails suggesting the Labour Party has failed to take disciplinary action against hundreds of members accused of anti-Semitism.

The paper says the party's system for dealing with the complaints is bedevilled by delays, inaction and interference from the leader's office.

Labour takes issue with the claims and insists it takes complaints of anti-Semitism extremely seriously.

Health inequality

The union Unison's health leader, Sara Gorton, says in the Observer that ministers are so consumed by Brexit that the crisis over a growing pay gap in the NHS is being ignored.

The paper reports that 100,000 NHS workers are being paid the minimum wage, as they're employed by private contractors which don't match match public sector pay rises.

The Sunday People says they earn on average £1,600 less a year than staff employed directly by the health service.

Meanwhile, the Sun says a gender pay report reveals the highest-paid male doctor earns close to £600,000 a year.

'On a Roll'

image copyright Reuters

The flared nostrils of Tiger Roll, which won the Grand National for a second time, are pictured in many of the papers.

"Tiger's on a roll," is the headline in the Sunday Express, while the People and the Mail both feature a group of the horse's fans all sporting tiger-striped suits and ties.

News websites, Huffpost UK and the Independent report on the reaction to the death of the horse, Up for Review, which fell at the first hurdle.

They say that the League Against Cruel Sports and RSPCA have both called for tighter safety measures. The British Horseracing Authority insists safety has improved significantly at the event.

Spy stories

The Sunday Mirror carries pictures of an encounter between the Russian ambassador and Charlie Rowley, whose partner Dawn Sturgess died from exposure to the nerve agent Novichok in Wiltshire.

During the meeting at the Russian Embassy in London, the ambassador is reported to have insisted that his country wasn't behind the use of the nerve agent in Salisbury. Mr Rowley is quoted as saying he didn't get proper answers to his questions - just Russian propaganda.

image copyright Kensington Palace

"On Her Majesty's Secret Service" is how the Sunday Express headlines the revelation that Prince William has spent three weeks with Britain's intelligence and security agencies.

"On Granny's secret service" is the Mail on Sunday's version, alongside a mocked up photograph of the prince looking every inch the next 007.