Newspaper headlines: 'Call me Mr Compromise' and 'age betrayal' By BBC News

Staff Published duration 4 October 2019

image copyright AFP/Getty Images image caption Several of the papers seize on Leo Varadkar's claims that remaining in the EU is "what the British people actually want"

Many of the papers continue to focus on the reaction to Boris Johnson's new proposals for a new Brexit deal with the EU.

On Thursday, the prime minister told MPs he'd made a "genuine attempt to bridge the chasm" with Brussels over the issue of the Irish border after Brexit.

Under the headline "Call me Mr Compromise", the i suggests Mr Johnson is ready to make fresh concessions to secure a new deal with the EU.

The paper says officials have warned they don't remotely match commitments enshrined in the backstop - the provision aimed at preventing a hard border on the island of Ireland after Brexit - such as upholding the all-Ireland single market.

The Daily Telegraph , the Daily Mail and the Daily Express all seize on a comment by Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar that remaining in the EU is "what the British people actually want".

The Express says his claim provoked fury among Tory MPs and their allies, the Democratic Unionist Party, with the DUP accusing Mr Varadkar of trying to derail a deal.

The Telegraph leads with the release this morning of what it says will be a damning report on Scotland Yard's investigation into allegations of a VIP paedophile ring

Operation Midland was launched on the basis of a single complainant, Carl Beech, who has since been jailed for lying about his claims.

According to the Telegraph, the Met Police was warned by the QC leading the government's child sex abuse inquiry, Ben Emmerson QC, that Beech was bogus, months before the inquiry was shut down.

The paper says the report by the retired High Court judge, Sir Richard Henriques, will conclude it should have been clear from the outset that Beech's allegations were "fabricated, incredible and untrue".

Writing in the paper, Mr Emmerson says he expressed his view at the time that not only was pursuing the "obviously implausible" claims "grossly unfair to those wrongly accused", it was also likely to threaten the successful prosecution of genuine allegations.

The Daily Mirror leads with an interview with the American businesswoman, Jennifer Arcuri, in which she says: "Men go insane around me - they've been doing it for years."

However, she strongly denies suggestions that she had an affair with Boris Johnson while he was mayor of London.

Both Ms Arcuri and the prime minister have denied any wrongdoing over her receiving taxpayers' money and access to trade missions.

'Landmark deal'

The Sun hails what it calls a landmark deal with the US that it says will force technology companies to hand over messages from paedophiles and terrorists.

It says an agreement signed by Home Secretary Priti Patel will allow police to avoid bureaucratic legal routes and to secure information within days rather than years.

However, in an open letter to Facebook's chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, Ms Patel says the company's plans for end-to-end message encryption will still deny the authorities access to millions of reports of child abuse and terrorist plots.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph , she says Facebook should not be creating a "digital blind spot" where "despicable" crimes can be hidden.

image copyright EPA image caption Priti Patel has accused Facebook of creating a "digital blind spot" where "despicable" crimes can be hidden.

The Times reports that the crossbench Sikh peer, Lord Singh of Wimbledon, Indarjit Singh, is quitting the BBC's Today programme's Thought for the Day , after 35 years and is accusing the BBC of "prejudice and intolerance".

The paper quotes him as saying the corporation has told him that some of his talks "might offend Muslims" and tried to stop him commemorating a Sikh guru who was executed in 17th century India for opposing the forced conversion of Hindus to Islam.

The paper notes that his complaint about this last November was rejected.

A BBC spokeswoman tells the paper the corporation "disagrees" with Lord Singh, adding: "Thought for the Day is a live, topical segment and it's not unusual for editorial changes to be made so that it reflects the biggest news stories of the day."

The Sun and the news website Buzzfeed report that the film star, Robert de Niro, is being sued by a former assistant for sexual harassment and gender discrimination.

In court documents, Graham Chase Robinson is said to claim that the Hollywood legend subjected her to years of "sexually charged comments" and "unwanted physical contact".

Robert de Niro has yet to comment.

Both the Sun and Buzzfeed observe that Ms Robinson's lawsuit is a response to one he filed against her two months ago, accusing her of embezzlement, misuse of company credit cards, and spending many working hours binge-watching Netflix shows.

She claims he was getting his retaliation in first.

And finally, a Banksy oil painting depicting chimpanzees sitting on the green benches of the House of Commons has sold at auction for just under £10m to an anonymous buyer.

The Sun notes that the artwork, called "Devolved Parliament", was first displayed in Bristol 10 years ago.