Newspaper headlines: 'Boris loses control' By BBC News

Staff Published duration 4 September 2019

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A picture of the prime minister - tousling his hair with an anguished expression - fills the front of the Daily Mirror, along with the headline "Boris Loses Control".

The tabloid says Mr Johnson's Brexit plans "blew up in his face" as rebel Conservatives sided with the opposition to defeat the government in Tuesday's Commons vote - marking the end of the "shortest Downing Street honeymoon ever".

The Guardian calls the vote a "humiliation" for Mr Johnson - suggesting several Tories were emboldened, rather than deterred, by the threat of having the whip removed.

John Crace writes: "Much more of this and letters will be piling up in the 1922 Committee demanding the return of Theresa May".

For the i newspaper , the result of the vote was "another chaotic instalment in the march towards Brexit" - leaving the UK "more starved of certainty than it has ever been".

The Daily Express is appalled by the rebellion, accusing the former chancellor, Philip Hammond, and other senior Tories of surrendering to the EU.

"They've turned their back on the historic referendum result and should bear the shame of what they have done for the rest of their lives," it argues in its editorial.

The Daily Telegraph acknowledges that many readers will find their purge from the parliamentary Tory party "unpalatable" - but believes Downing Street had no choice.

"With an election around the corner, Number 10 doesn't want to run the risk of winning a majority that includes enough Remainers to make it no majority at all," it says.

The Financial Times says last night's events have left the Conservatives in a "state of disintegration", with "poison coursing through the bloodstream" of the party.

Away from Brexit, several papers - including the Daily Mail - report on a major study linking diet drinks with an increased risk of dying early.

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The research, which looked at more than 450,000 people across Europe, found that death rates from any cause were 26% higher among people who consumed two or more diet drinks a day, compared with those who had less than one a month.

The reasons are unclear, but previous studies have suggested that artificial sweeteners can trigger glucose intolerance and higher insulin levels in the blood.

The Times has the story of a lawyer who won the jackpot on the German version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" - after spending 16 years re-enacting the television quiz in his basement.

Jan Stroh built a replica of the set and studied nearly 35-thousand past questions to prepare for his appearance on the programme, applying dozens of times before he was finally selected to take part.