Newspaper headlines: Divorce shake-up and PM 'told she is problem' By BBC News

Staff Published duration 9 April 2019

image copyright Getty Images image caption Ms Merkel will meet with Prime Minister Mrs May in Berlin for talks on Tuesday

The latest on Brexit features on many of Tuesday's newspaper front pages as Theresa May prepares to meet Germany and France's leaders for further Brexit talks.

A number of papers have pictures of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel holding a ball - a gift from the German Handball Federation - as she prepares to meet Mrs May today.

For the Sun, the ball is now in the EU's court as the leaders of the 27 other member states decide on the UK's request for a further delay to Brexit.

The price of the delay, the Times reports, will be an assurance from Britain that it will not block or disrupt EU decisions during an extension period.

The Guardian says the prime minister will promise to be a good member of the EU until departure day and tell them that talks with Labour have a serious chance of reaching a deal.

The Mail reports that following talks between the government and Labour, the two sides are said to be close to agreement on ensuring the UK remains in step with EU laws on workers' rights and the environment - but there is no agreement yet on possible customs arrangements.

The Telegraph says it can disclose that Mrs May is considering giving MPs a vote on whether to hold a further referendum in a bid to break the deadlock in negotiations with Labour.

According to the newspaper, she held discussions with Cabinet ministers yesterday about the prospect of a Commons vote on whether to enshrine a commitment to a referendum in law.

The Financial Times says Eurosceptic anger has mounted as both the government and Labour explore a compromise on a future EU customs arrangement.

According to the paper, the Leader of the House of Commons, Andrea Leadsom, was said by onlookers to have been "incandescent with anger" as she berated Mrs May for letting Jeremy Corbyn influence any Brexit outcome.

image copyright Getty Images image caption Anger from Eurosceptics - including minister Andrea Leadsom - rose as Mrs May said the government would continue Brexit talks with Labour

It adds that the reality of Mrs May's plan to seek another Brexit delay sank in last night when the Conservative Party rushed to find candidates to contest the European Parliament elections.

Meanwhile, the Telegraph also reports that Theresa May is facing demands to stand down immediately after senior Tory backbenchers told her that she was now "the problem".

The paper says officials from the 1922 Committee met the prime minister in Downing Street on Monday and warned her that the mood among party supporters had turned against her over the weekend.

Sources have told the paper that Mrs May "sat in stony silence and refused to discuss her future".

According to the Guardian, Tory MPs are submitting a fresh batch of letters expressing no confidence in Mrs May - even though, under party rules, they cannot challenge her until December.

But, the paper adds, they hope the number of letters will be so great that they can't be ignored.

Divorce shake-up

Couples will be able to divorce without either of them admitting being at fault, under new proposed changes to the law announced by the government on Tuesday.

Under the new arrangements, which are to be introduced within three months, as soon as one half of the couple initiates the divorce, it cannot be stopped by the other person.

The Times says the new legislation has cross-party support, and also fulfils a part of the newspaper's own campaign.

It quotes Sir Paul Coleridge, the founder of the Marriage Foundation charity, who says: "The current law does not prevent people from getting divorced; it just keeps them in marriages they do not want to be in."

And the i newspaper quotes legal experts who have welcomed the news, saying the changes will help cut conflict from what can be a "highly stressful" experience.

Council high-earners

Meanwhile, there is anger over a report showing that nearly 2,500 town hall employees in England and Wales are being paid more than a £100,000.

The figures, covering the 2017/18 financial year, have been published by the Taxpayers' Alliance campaign group, making the lead story for the Daily Express.

The paper says that while councils stress that they include redundancy and pension payments, it looks like rather a lot of reward when residents see multiplying potholes, declining bin collections and soaring council tax.

The Guardian reports that anti-abortion protesters are harassing vulnerable women at UK clinics in the run-up to Easter.

The paper has been told that hard-line religious activists have been targeting women in increasing numbers at 10 clinics across the country.

According to the paper, they have been brandishing models of foetuses and condemning women as "murderers".

The Labour MP Jess Philips tells the paper the government must legislate to create buffer zones around clinics so women can make their healthcare choices free from intimidation.

Meanwhile, there is strong interest in the Israeli elections, with papers highlighting the close race between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and his main rival, Benny Gantz.

The Telegraph's leader column says that in the end, what might well extend Mr Netanyahu's tenure are the considerations with which voters in the West are familiar: prosperity and security - and he can claim to have delivered both.

The Financial Times says voters have been gripped by Mr Netanyahu's narrative of fear and strength.

image copyright Reuters image caption In Israel's elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking a fifth term in office

Meanwhile, research reported in several papers suggests that Britons are throwing away 720m eggs every year - three times more than in 2008 and at a cost of £139m.

The research by the food waste campaign group, Too Good To Go, found that around one in three consumers rely on the dates on the box.

The group is publicising a test that reveals whether eggs are still fresh to eat, using a bowl of water. If eggs sink to the bottom and lay flat on their sides, they are very fresh", a spokesman tells the Mail. "If they float to the surface, they are no longer fresh enough to eat".

Isles of Scilly 'blocked on weather'

Finally, the Times says a storm has been gathering between BBC presenters and Cornwall's tourism chiefs over a persistent spell of forecasters standing in the way during live reports.

The problem is, the Mail explains, that presenters often stand in front of Cornwall and the Scilly Isles during the forecasts - and that means no-one can see what the weather will be like in one of the country's favourite holiday regions.

The boss of Visit Cornwall, Malcolm Bell, tells the Telegraph: "The Isles of Scilly are small and precious and we need to keep awareness up about them.

"Standing right in front of them doesn't help at all. I would like them to move back a bit".