Newspaper headlines: 'Battle begins' and 'coalition chaos' warning By BBC News

Staff Published duration 20 April 2017

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A number of Thursday's papers focus on the content of the forthcoming Conservative election manifesto.

Party sources tell the Daily Mail it will feature three "Cast-Iron Brexit Pledges". It says Theresa May will guarantee the end of free movement , and commit to pulling out of both the single market and the European Court of Justice.

The paper calls the move a "triple lock" aimed at preventing the prime minister's Brexit plans from being obstructed by factions in the Lords and her own party.

The Sun speculates on the fate of the government's commitment to foreign aid . It points to a refusal by the prime minister to back the pledge at PMQs as a sign that what it calls "the hated goal" could be ditched.

The front page of the Times claims Theresa May is ready to soften her long-standing opposition to removing student numbers from net migration targets.

The paper writes that Mrs May will offer to change the way numbers are calculated - so an overhaul of the university system can pass through Parliament before it is dissolved.

The Times says the prime minister faces having to make a number of such sacrifices to push through important bills - and that this will be the most galling for her.

The Guardian points out that George Osborne demonstrated a certain naivety about the workings of newspapers when he gave his new team at the London Evening Standard the scoop that he was going to stand down as an MP.

The revelation came too late to make the paper's main edition - and had to be published in a specially commissioned late edition.

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The Daily Mirror interprets Mr Osborne's announcement - that he intends to hold the government to account by fighting for the "Britain he loves" - as a veiled threat to the prime minister.

The Mirror calls his words a warning that he will use his influence to fight Mrs May if she pushes for limits to immigration and a hard Brexit.

Prosperity in Pyongyang

The Financial Times reports on signs of economic improvement in North Korea. Observers say that although poverty remains rife, there are indications of increased prosperity and diversification

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A tour operator tells the paper that coffee shops and food kiosks are opening in Pyongyang - and that its residents own mobile phones and pets, and are starting to travel around the country.

Full disclosure

Potential applicants to the position of artistic director at Shakespeare's Globe are given an unusual insight into the role in the Daily Telegraph.

The outgoing incumbent - Emma Rice - and her predecessor - Dominic Dromgoole - have both published letters on the theatre's website saying that the job can be a nightmare.

In what are billed as "open letters" to whoever takes over, Mr Dromgoole warns of cabals and connivers. And Mrs Rice said she would never again allow herself to be excluded from rooms where decisions are made.

The Globe tells the Telegraph it chose to publish the candid letters because it supports open conversation.

A four-wheeled expedition

The Daily Express says the great-grandson of Ernest Shackleton has followed in his intrepid ancestor's footsteps in an expedition across the Antarctic , but with a modern twist.