Newspaper headlines: Johnson unveils 'manifesto' and Hunt calls for fox hunting vote By BBC News

Staff Published duration 4 July 2019

media caption Who are the Conservative Party members?

Boris Johnson's pledge to increase police numbers by 20,000 within three years is featured on the front pages of the Daily Express and the Daily Mail - which says the former Mayor of London is "positioning himself as the champion of law and order" in the Conservative leadership contest.

But writing in Daily Telegraph , Mr Johnson's rival, Jeremy Hunt, insists Tory members should back him to replace Theresa May, after a poll published last week showed he was more popular among the general public.

He said he was "the best person" to avert the "real and present danger" of Jeremy Corbyn becoming prime minister.

That threat might not be so great if a survey for The Times is to be believed. It suggests support for Labour has fallen to 18% - its joint lowest level since polling began in the 1940s.

Mr Hunt also says he will commit to a vote on ending the ban on fox hunting with hounds if he becomes PM - arguing it is part of "our heritage" - in a move interpreted by the paper as "an appeal to grassroots Tories in the shires".

The Sun says Mr Johnson will today unveil "a bold manifesto to unite divided Britain" - including a pledge to close the opportunity gap between the haves and have-nots.

Writing in the paper, Mr Johnson says he has a vision "tailor-made for Sun readers and all their concerns".

The front pages of the Daily Mail and the Daily Express both highlight his promise - first made last month - to recruit an extra 20,000 police officers.

The Express uses its leader column to argue this is "long overdue", after savings made to balance the books went "too far" with police numbers.

image copyright EPA image caption Mr Osborne: From chancellor to Evening Standard editor - to IMF chief?

According to The Times , George Osborne has told friends that he is preparing a campaign to become the first British head of the International Monetary Fund.

Supporters of the former chancellor say his bid to replace Christine Lagarde could win backing from both the American and Chinese presidents, as "mediating between the superpowers requires a politician, rather than a technocrat".

The Financial Times points out that a European has held the top job at the IMF for all of its 75-year history and says government sources have indicated Britain will "make a play" for the position, to show Brexit has not dimmed its internationalist ambitions.

image copyright Getty Images image caption The Guardian says a new review has highlighted the "massive burden" of alcohol on the NHS

For the first time, research has quantified the massive burden placed on the NHS by alcohol, according to the lead story in the Guardian

It says a review of 124 previous studies - involving more than 1.5 million patients - shows one in 10 people in hospital in the UK are alcohol-dependent, and one in five are doing themselves damage by drinking.

Dr Emmert Roberts, who led the review, has told the paper that the NHS is "losing its expertise" to deal with the problem, following a reduction in the number of trained addiction psychiatrists and real terms cuts to funding for specialist alcohol treatment services.

The Daily Mirror is angered by a study, commissioned by the Department for Education, in which almost two thirds of schools questioned said they had either reduced their number of teaching assistants over the past three years, or planned to do so this year.

The paper blames a "crisis in education funding" caused by cuts to frontline budgets, higher staff costs and reduced support from councils. It says schools "should not be having to beg for staff".

Research which suggests that nearly two thirds of fatal crashes occur on just 75 roads is highlighted by The Times

The study says single carriageway A-roads in rural areas are deemed to be the most dangerous, with the A5004 from Buxton to Whaley Bridge in Derbyshire considered to be the UK's worst, following 16 serious or deadly crashes between 2012 and 2017.

The paper's leader column says it is "worrying" that the number of people killed on Britain's roads has changed little since 2011 - but argues that by targeting accident blackspots, "advances are within reach".

Finally, the Telegraph pays tribute to its former columnist - and the co-founder of Private Eye - Christopher Booker, who has died aged 81.

Remembering him as a "brave, wide-ranging and often funny campaigning journalist, with a considerable talent for parody". It says the hallmark of his later career was a "quizzical scepticism".