Newspaper headlines: Tory plot to crown Boris 'unopposed' By BBC News

Staff Published duration 15 June 2019

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The race for the Tory leadership gets plenty of coverage in Saturday's papers.

The i weekend has a warning from Sajid Javid's team that the contest could "turn toxic" - and that the party should avoid what is described as the "psychodrama" of a Michael Gove versus Boris Johnson run-off.

The Daily Telegraph reports on what it calls a "secret plan" to ensure that only Mr Johnson's name is put to the party membership - to avoid damaging party in-fighting.

It says the idea was hatched in the whips' office by senior cabinet members not linked to any of the campaigns.

Under the proposal, the remaining contenders would bow out late next week - but the article says the biggest hurdle will be to convince the party chairman, Brandon Lewis.

He is said to be determined for the candidates to be grilled by Tory members in every region of the UK over a four-week period.

The Independent online says Boris Johnson is coming under fire from Brussels after claiming he could force a Brexit deal - with one senior figure telling the paper "no-one is scared of him".

The news site also says the European Parliament's deputy chief negotiator, Sophie in 't Veld, condemned what she called his "populist lies".

On a similar theme, the Daily Mail says Eurocrats are convinced there will be no Brexit this year, and that Mr Johnson will do a U-turn on his pledge to leave by the end of October.

The Times links the leadership race to its campaign for a Clean Air Act, saying three of the candidates - Michael Gove, Jeremy Hunt and Rory Stewart - have pledged to back new legislation if they become prime minister.

Homophobic hate crimes have doubled in five years, according to analysis by the Guardian. It looked at figures for England and Wales for offences including stalking, harassment and violent assault.

The paper found the number of crimes had risen from less than 5,000 in 2013-14 to more than 11,500 in 2017-18.

The Guardian spoke to two women who were recently pictured covered in blood after being attacked on a bus.

One of them, Melania Geymonat, tells the paper she is speaking out because it was "a moral obligation" and "this needs to stop".

image caption Melania Geymonat (right) and her date Chris were assaulted and robbed on a bus in Camden

The Financial Times leads with a warning that the Bank of England has found "widespread weaknesses" among the UK's new challenger banks - whom it accused of cutting corners in an "aggressive pursuit of growth".

The paper says the banks have been ordered to tighten standards and correct risk assessments that were considered "overly optimistic".

The 20 banks that were subjected to stress tests aren't named, but they all had a balance sheet of more than £750m.

And the Telegraph gives a timely reminder that it is Father's Day on Sunday, with a look at the array of cards now available.

It displays several examples of messages for same-sex parents, trans men and single mothers. They include "two dads are better than one" and "who said the best dad in the world can't be a mum?".