Newspaper headlines: Harry's 'two kids pledge' and Facebook gets a warning By BBC News

Staff Published duration 31 July 2019

image copyright Reuters image caption The Duke and Duchess of Sussex

Prince Harry's remark that he and Meghan will have no more than two children to help the fight against climate change makes the front page of the Mirror.

It is also the lead in the Sun , with its headline referencing the couple's new home in Windsor: "Only one sprog more at Frogmore".

The Daily Telegraph leads on a warning by new Home Secretary, Priti Patel, that Facebook is threatening to hamper the fight against terrorists and child abusers with the increased use of encryption.

She urges tech companies to give intelligence agencies lawful access to encrypted messages.

Facebook says the security prevents even it from reading messages and by reducing the amount of data the company can access, it cuts the amount that hackers can steal.

image copyright PA image caption Home Secretary Priti Patel has warned of the dangers of encrypted messages on Facebook Messenger

The Daily Mail leads with the fallout from the story which it broke yesterday - the criticism by a retired High Court judge that police investigating false claims of a VIP paedophile ring may have broken the law in the way they obtained search warrants.

It says victims of the jailed fantasist, Carl Beech, are demanding a criminal investigation into the way Scotland Yard's inquiry was conducted.

In its editorial, the Mail does not pull its punches. It says there was no secrecy for the true victims of Carl Beech's lies - so there should be none for the officers who "trashed their good names".

The Independent Office for Police Conduct found no suspicion of criminality - but that doesn't stop the Times from calling for those behind the police operation to be held to account.

According to the Financial Times, Boris Johnson is preparing to spend billions of pounds more on health and social care including new hospitals in areas seen as being "left behind".

The paper says insiders expect announcements within days - but there are likely to be questions about how the proposals would be funded.

The Times says the measures are part of an effort by the prime minister and his new senior special adviser, Dominic Cummings, to take on Jeremy Corbyn over health spending.

image copyright PA Media image caption Cummings was previously an adviser to Michael Gove and then campaign director at Vote Leave

Mr Cummings, the former Vote Leave campaign director, is also the subject of two different stories.

The Guardian says it has unearthed comments from two years ago in which he claimed Conservative MPs did not care about poorer people or the NHS - and that the public had cottoned onto this.

And the Times reports that Brexit Party leader, Nigel Farage, has told the prime minister that he would not enter into an electoral pact with the Tories while Mr Cummings was in post.

Mr Farage apparently said the adviser was not a true believer in leaving the EU and that he had huge personal enmity towards those who were.

Meanwhile, the Telegraph believes Mr Johnson may have given some clues as to what a Brexit deal struck by his government could look like.

He suggested yesterday the UK could stay in the customs union and single market for another two years, the paper says.

The Telegraph points out this would involve the UK managing to reach an agreement before the end of October, allowing Britain to enter a transition period before concluding a final trade deal.

image copyright Getty Images image caption Boris Johnson was photographed holding chickens during a visit to a farm near Newport

The declining value of the pound because of fears of a no-deal Brexit is the subject of several editorials.

The Sun believes sterling will rise again once Britain secures a better agreement with the EU.

But the Times says no-deal will lead to a further slide and cautions Mr Johnson, as he tours the country, that he should beware the verdict of markets.

The Mail accuses him of engaging in megaphone diplomacy and says "every sinew must be strained to reach a deal".

There is coverage of a report on the benefits of the cholesterol-lowering drugs, statins.

The Times says French researchers found that people who stopped taking the medicine after the age of 75 faced a 46% higher risk of a heart attack and a 26% increased chance of a stroke.

Writing in the Express, Sir Nilesh Samani from the British Heart Foundation expresses concern that negative reporting can stop people from taking statins. He stresses they are safe and rarely cause serious side-effects.

Mind-reading tech

Scientists have made a breakthrough in the quest to be able to read minds, according to a report in the Guardian.

Researchers at the University of California used electrodes to record the brain activity of people who read out a list of responses after being asked questions.

Using the recordings, the team created software which could identify their answers from brain signals alone.

Scientists hope that one day the technology could be used to create a system that can help someone who wants to communicate, but can't.

Meanwhile, more than two hundred climate change protesters were left red-faced, according to the papers, when they chained themselves to the wrong building in the City of London.

The Mail says they had planned to stage a demo against the energy firm Drax, which wants to build a giant gas plant in Yorkshire.

They only discovered that Drax had moved offices after blocking the front and back entrance.

Instead, the Times says, they had brought chaos to a leading renewable energy company. One worker expressed sympathy towards their aim but added, it would help if they checked their facts.

Top tips from burglars

The Guardian says John Lewis has taken advice from a panel of former burglars on the best ways of keeping valuables safe.

Apparently it is not a good idea to hide things in your underwear drawer or under your pillows, as these are the first places which thieves check.

Instead the panel suggest placing items among children's toys and in cereal boxes.