Newspaper headlines: PM in spotlight and mandatory jabs for schoolchildren By BBC News

Staff Published duration 30 September 2019

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Downing Street's rejection of claims that Boris Johnson squeezed the thighs of two women at an event when he was editor of The Spectator in 1999 are widely reported.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock and former cabinet minister Amber Rudd are both quoted as describing Ms Edwardes as "trustworthy" - but the Guardian says Mr Johnson is "furious" at her claim -which Downing Street insiders privately dismissed as "nonsense".

Remain coalition 'plots'

As the Tories gather in Manchester, The Daily Telegraph says opposition leaders will meet at Jeremy Corbyn's office at Westminster to plot a way of forcing Boris Johnson to delay Brexit as early as this weekend.

The paper says the "Remain coalition" want to bring forward the date when the prime minister legally has to ask Brussels for an extension as they fear the current deadline of 19 October will not leave enough time for a court challenge if he defies the law and attempts to push through a no-deal Brexit.

According to The Daily Mail, anti-Brexit MPs are "dithering " over whether to try to bring down Boris Johnson during this Conservative party conference.

It says ministers are on standby to travel back to London from Manchester if any attempt is made to topple the PM - but the prospect of a formal vote of no-confidence "appears to be fading" as MPs squabble over who should replace him.

image copyright Getty Images image caption Prince Harry has made conservation a key focus of his royal duties

In a column for The Daily Telegraph, Prince Harry has said that conservation is "fundamental" to our survival - and he is personally driven by the desire to help restore the balance between humans and nature.

Speaking ahead of his visit to conservation projects in Malawi, Prince Harry admits "this may well sound hippy to some" - but insists we cannot afford to have a 'them or us' mentality.

'Social care crisis'

The front page of The Daily Mail claims thousands of women who look after relatives for free are being "driven to the brink" by the social care crisis - suffering "devastating effects on their health and quality of life".

The paper says a survey by the NHS has found that women are twice as likely as men to work as unpaid carers, leaving them at a much higher risk of depression, loneliness and other illnesses.

A suggestion that exposure to air pollution on the day of exams could lower students' marks is highlighted by the Times.

It says dirtier air was associated with lower scores in a study involving more than 2,000 students at a central London university, while separate research has claimed that air quality on the day of exams could affect results as much as class size. The paper points out that the studies were observational and could not prove that pollution causes lower marks.

'Mandatory jabs'

The lead story in The Times highlights how children could be banned from the classroom if they are not up to date with their vaccinations after Health Secretary Matt Hancock said there was a "very strong argument" for requiring pupils to have the jabs before they go to school.

The Guardian's leader column warns a requirement for proof of immunisation would create additional bureaucracy and risk an anti-state backlash -but concludes that the government "may have to draw a line" and declare a minority's refusal to be vaccinated is a luxury that society can no longer afford to indulge.

image copyright David Levenson image caption John Le Carre has been accused of writing "corrosive" books that undermined the intelligence services

An attempt to achieve a world record gathering of people called Nigel is featured by several papers, after 432 of them turned up at a village pub in Worcestershire on Saturday night.

According to The Mirror , non-Nigels were welcome at the bash - "but they had to wear a badge saying they were not Nigel".

Speaking at a literary festival, the former head of MI6, Sir Richard Dearlove, said spies were "pretty angry" with Mr Le Carre for portraying them as duplicitous and untrustworthy.