Newspaper headlines: World Cup 'shame' and Prince Louis walks By BBC News

Staff Published duration 20 May 2019

The Guardian and the Mirror preview what they both describe as a "damning" report on the effect of austerity measures on family poverty in the UK.

The study - by campaign group Human Rights Watch - concludes that benefit reforms and a freeze on welfare spending have left tens of thousands of households without enough to eat - putting the government in breach of its international obligation to prevent people going hungry.

In one of the cities examined - Oxford - local schools had turned to food banks to feed malnourished pupils. Ministers say the report is misleading, and insist that families are being given the "best opportunity to move out of poverty".

image copyright PA

A poll in The Times suggests more than half of Conservative party members want to scrap the HS2 high-speed rail line - as speculation grows that the next Tory prime minister could cancel the project.

The paper says more than 20 senior figures in local government and business have written to the Treasury , warning that a failure to build HS2 would be a "disaster" for the economy in the Midlands and the north of England.

Others have raised concerns that the scheme, which is due for completion in 2033, can't be delivered within its £56bn budget.

image copyright Getty Images image caption A group of prominent figures asked Liz Truss, chief secretary to the Treasury, not to cancel HS2

According to the Sun , one of Britain's most notorious criminals - Kenneth Noye - could be granted his freedom this week.

Noye was jailed 19 years ago for murdering an electrician, Stephen Cameron, in a road-rage attack on the M25 - and has spent the last 18 months in an open prison in Kent.

It is understood the 71-year-old will find out on Wednesday whether the Parole Board has approved his release. The victim's father, Ken Cameron, thinks he should remain behind bars. "Life should mean life", he says - "the only way Noye should be allowed out is in a wooden box".

There are doubts about whether Theresa May will be able to deliver a "bold" new offer on Brexit when her deal returns to the Commons next month. The Telegraph - which has seen a five-page summary of her proposal - says it's neither bold nor new, and, crucially, retains the controversial "backstop" - the mechanism aimed at preventing a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

image copyright PA

One of the proposed changes is to give Parliament a say in setting the objectives for future trade negotiations.

But Conservative MP Sir Bill Cash - who has repeatedly voted against the prime minister's deal - is unimpressed. "This is pretty cosmetic stuff", he says. "It will not have any effect".

The FT is equally sceptical - suggesting that Mrs May's promise of a "bold" deal "sounded more like an advert for a washing detergent than a convincing plan to end months of deadlock.

The Times reports that universities have jointly agreed to crack down on grade inflation to stop "runaway numbers" of first-class degrees. In total, 27% of students were awarded a first in 2018, compared with just 18% six years ago.

Universities UK, which represents vice-chancellors, says they have agreed a new framework, setting out what a student needs to demonstrate to earn a particular grade. Examiners at different institutions will also review each other's calculations more regularly.

Street light strife

The Guardian reports that 5G mobile services in the UK could be delayed by at least two years - because of a row about the control of lampposts.

Network operators hope to install the transmitters needed to make 5G work on street lights across the country. But some local councils and landlords have been unwilling to grant access - mainly for financial reasons - and are facing the threat of legal action.

A property lawyer tells the paper "more and more cases" are now clogging up the tribunals, so much so that new disputes won't be heard until next year at the earliest.

The Daily Mail says a model railway club in Lincolnshire has received thousands of pounds of donations from around the world - after vandals destroyed every exhibit in the group's annual show. Four people arrested at the scene have been released on police bail.

'Wear sunglasses at night'

The Telegraph reports on new Dutch research which claims that teenagers struggling to sleep should wear sunglasses in bed to filter out the blue light emitted from their phones and computers.

Scientists in Amsterdam found that after just one week, adolescents wearing the glasses were less tired and able to concentrate more easily. The team plans to investigate whether adults would reap similar benefits.

And most of the papers feature the smiling faces of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's children - as they play in a garden Kate has designed for the Chelsea Flower Show.

"King of the Swingers" is the headline in the Sun which shows Prince Louis - assisted by father, Prince William - clutching onto a rope swing.

The Express points out that the pictures were released only a few hours after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex shared previously unseen pictures of their wedding on Instagram.