Newspaper headlines: IS fighter 'exodus', the triple lock and drug firms in UK 'quit threat' By BBC News

Staff Published duration 27 April 2017

The Guardian reports that foreign fighters with so-called Islamic State are leaving the militant group in their droves and trying to enter Turkey.

A man from north London and his British wife are said to be among dozens of people who have surrendered to the Turkish border police in recent weeks.

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Others are thought to have evaded capture.

The paper says the ranks of IS are rapidly being depleted as its "capacity to hold ground in Syria and Iraq collapses".

Boris's 'oratory'

As Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson criticises Jeremy Corbyn in a column in the Sun, the paper helpfully offers a definition of the derogatory term he uses to describe the Labour leader.

"Mugwump", it says, can have two meanings: A person who remains aloof or independent, particularly from party politics, or anyone who is part of the International Confederation of Wizards in the Harry Potter books.

The paper welcomes his intervention in the election campaign, suggesting in its editorial that the Conservatives would be "mad even to consider" sidelining him, and that it was his "charm and oratory" that "helped secure Brexit".

Meanwhile, the papers have differing insights into Theresa May's reluctance to guarantee the future of the pensions triple lock during Prime Minister's Questions.

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It says Downing Street is "backing away from the idea of ditching the policy after new projections suggested the financial savings might not be worth the political risk".

'Catastrophic impact'

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It says millions of patients in England are being denied appointments because their practice has a two-hour lunch break or an entire afternoon off in midweek.

The Royal College of GPs says it is down to a lack of resources, not because doctors are not working hard enough.

As Home Secretary, Theresa May had advocated leaving the ECHR because it was often used to prevent the extradition of foreign criminals.

But government sources are quoted as saying that the commitment is likely to be left out of the Tories' election manifesto as it would be a major distraction from the Brexit negotiations.

The new president of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry makes what it calls an "unprecedented warning" that drug companies will abandon the UK unless an additional £20bn a year is put into the health service.

Lisa Anson says the increased rationing of treatments on the NHS will deter firms from launching new medications or carrying out clinical trials.

But some Tory MPs are said to dismiss the demands as "special pleading" and caution that extra funding can only be made available through cuts elsewhere.

'Growing Old Greasefully'

The broadsheets react to the decision by the Colston Hall music venue in Bristol to change its name, to erase its links to the city's slave trade.

image caption Queen - said to be the favourite band among over-50s

The poll suggests that age group prefer the film Grease to the Godfather, and crowned Queen as their favourite band.