Newspaper headlines: Johnson challenges Corbyn to end 'deadlock' By BBC News

Staff Published duration 25 October 2019

image copyright EPA image caption Many of the papers describe Boris Johnson's call for a pre-Christmas election as a "gamble"

Certain words appear again and again as Friday's papers examine the prime minister's call for MPs to back a pre-Christmas general election.

One of them is "gamble".

The Financial Times says Boris Johnson is taking one by calling for a 12 December poll, rather than battling to get his Withdrawal Agreement Bill ratified by Parliament.

It may appear to be one, the Sun concludes , but Mr Johnson has little choice.

But privately, some Conservatives are concerned that it's one that could easily backfire if the electorate objects to a Christmas vote, says the Guardian

Another word that features, in both the Times and the Daily Telegraph , is "stalemate". Both papers urge Labour to break it by accepting an election.

Detectives investigating the 39 bodies found in a lorry in Essex are focusing on three suspected members of a criminal gang based in South Armagh, according to the Telegraph

The Sun suggests the three are known to police in connection with alcohol and cigarette smuggling.

Meanwhile, the Daily Mirror says Chinese gangsters from the notorious Snakehead gang are feared to have played a part.

The Times reports that residents near Purfleet - where the lorry arrived - say people-smuggling at the port is rife.

They have found stacks of discarded passports and seen groups of migrants being loaded from lorries onto coaches.

Vaccines in supermarkets

The Daily Mail takes credit for what it calls "a dramatic new MMR vaccine plan for children" following the paper's recent campaign on the issue.

GPs, the paper explains, are to hold extra vaccination clinics at evenings and weekends.

Carlie Pleasant speaks of her delight after NHS England announced on Thursday that it had reached a deal to ensure people with the disorder have access to what the paper calls two "wonder drugs".

The Express suggests the medicines could help at least 5,000 people in England. Ms Pleasant, who has cystic fibrosis, says: "Thank you for giving my life back."

Emotional support animals

Air passengers, says the Times , are used to thick fog or industrial action delaying their flights - but perhaps not French bulldogs wearing tutus.

The dogs, on a flight from Gatwick to the United States, were meant to be "emotional support animals".

The paper says many pets, from pigs to birds of prey, have claimed this title to get on passenger flights.

The Sun has a picture of one of the dogs, complete with orange skirt.

The paper says the pair were taken off the plane after they began "barking wildly in the cabin".

The Times suggests the dogs were struggling to "contain their emotions".

'Huw grit'

Several papers, including the Guardian , report on figures which suggest a record 75% of mothers are in work in the UK.

The paper notes that while fathers are more likely to work, there has been a slight decline to 92.6%.

But the head of the Young Women's Trust tells the paper that many women are sidelined in low paid, insecure work with few prospects of promotion.

The paper says the presenter chased a burglar out of his home and into the street in his pyjamas.

A source tells the paper that he was a whisker too late to stop the intruder taking his Mercedes.