Newspaper headlines: PM's 'final Brexit plan' and crime crackdown vow By BBC News

Staff Published duration 1 October 2019

image copyright Getty Images image caption Will Boris Johnson's Brexit plans be acceptable to Ireland's prime minister?

Boris Johnson's proposals for a new Brexit deal are widely reported.

But the New Statesman website points out the British plan includes new customs posts a few miles away from either side of the border.

It says as far as Dublin and Brussels are concerned, that is direct contravention of the definition of a hard border agreed two years ago.

To Mr Varadkar, the website adds, it does not matter whether they are on the border or a 10-minute drive away, it is still a hard border, and any plan along these lines is not going to fly,

Meanwhile, the Times says it has learnt that Mr Johnson is asking the EU to rule out a further extension to Article 50 as part of a new deal. The paper says his intention is to confront the Commons with a binary choice of agreeing the revised deal or ensuring Britain falls out of the EU without agreement on 31 October.

'End of soft sentences'

"End of the soft prison sentence," is the headline. The paper's leader column says Robert Buckland's announcement provides some comfort and reassurance to the public.

image copyright PA Media image caption Plans for more police to carry Tasers are due to be set out

The Daily Express also leads on law and order, saying Home Secretary Priti Patel will tell the Tory conference later that she plans to arm police in England and Wales with more Tasers and crack down on "county lines" drug gangs.

The paper says her rallying cry to the party faithful is intended to show that crime fighting has moved on from David Cameron's "hug-a-hoodie" approach. Its headline says her message will be: "Criminals we are coming after you."

The chancellor's pledge - at the conference on Monday - to increase the National Living Wage and make it available to everyone over the age of 21, is widely considered.

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The Huffpost UK website says it was particularly aimed at northern seats where the rise will have an even bigger impact than the South.

May's 'fantastic time'

And the Tories' spending promises raise many eyebrows. The Financial Times says the chancellor's speech intensified Boris Johnson's transformation of the Conservatives into a populist party.

But there is also uneasiness among some Conservative-supporting papers. The Daily Mail says the prudence of the last decade means there is some scope for investment but the annual deficit has still not been wiped out.

In the Telegraph's view, the Tories must not lose sight of the virtues of fiscal prudence and good economic management.

Finally, there's much interest in Theresa May's first public interview since leaving office - not at the Tory conference, but the Henley Literary Festival.

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The Daily Express says that when asked whether she had read David Cameron's new book, she replied that she would rather sit down with a good thriller or detective novel than a political memoir.