Newspaper headlines: May 'clings on' after 'cabinet coup' By BBC News

Staff Published duration 23 May 2019

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The fate of the prime minister is on almost all of the front pages.

Many of them print the same image showing a solemn Theresa May sitting in the backseat of her official car as it drove away from Parliament on Wednesday.

"Tearesa" is the headline on the front of the Sun, which says the prime minister was left "bleary-eyed" and "isolated" by what it calls "an extraordinary cabinet bid to force her from power."

The Daily Express says a "beleaguered" Mrs May is facing "a final showdown" - with its headline asking "How much more can she take?"

The Times offers an answer, saying she is expected to announce her departure from Number 10 on Friday - when she is due to meet Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the influential Tory backbench 1922 Committee.

According to the Spectator's political editor James Forsyth, the meeting is quite simply Mrs May's chance to be "to resign rather than be pushed".

There are calls in the editorials for her to leave. Mrs May "must go now" says the Daily Telegraph which describes the situation as a "national emergency".

The Guardian says she has "nowhere left to fail". The Sun says her task has been "harder than any predecessor's since Winston Churchill", but goes on to deliver a clear message: "It's over, PM".

Stroke stats

Several papers report that deaths from strokes in England have more than halved in the past decade.

The Times says "clot-busting drugs, stroke units and the provision of physiotherapy at home" have all been credited with helping to transform the chances of survival.

The Guardian points out that the number of strokes affecting people under the age of 55 is going up, with researchers pointing the finger at rising obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Ghost town fears

The Financial Times reports that the Business Secretary Greg Clarke has formulated a rescue plan for British Steel.

Under the plan, it says the UK government would act as a "cornerstone investor" alongside a consortium of private companies.

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The paper reports that Mr Clarke has commissioned legal advice on whether his plan would comply with state aid rules, unlike an outright loan to a failing company.

In its editorial, the Daily Mirror calls for the brand to be nationalised if a viable buyer is not found.

It warns that letting a "strategic industry go to the wall" would "turn Scunthorpe into a ghost town" and increase unemployment in the north.

Battle of the thermostat

Finally, the Times reports that women struggling for workplace equality have an "unanticipated foe" in the form of "sexist office air conditioning".

The paper explains that new research suggests women show increased mental dexterity when they are warmer, while men perform best when it is cooler.