Newspaper headlines: Plastic bag use plunges and Army tackles fake news By BBC News

Staff Published duration 1 August 2019

image copyright PA Media image caption Sajid Javid says the extra money will "ensure we are ready to leave on 31 October - deal or no-deal."

Many papers examine Chancellor Sajid Javid's attempt to "turbo-charge" - as the Daily Telegraph calls it - no-deal Brexit plans with an extra £2.1bn.

A Treasury source tells the Telegraph it marks a "cultural change" and that its speed is testament to the chancellor's determination to get things done.

Meanwhile, a Whitehall source tells the Daily Mail that the government wants the Treasury to act as a motor for Brexit, not a brake, adding: "And that is what is happening."

But the Labour chairwoman of the public accounts committee, Meg Hillier, accuses the prime minister of waging "an expensive form of megaphone politics aimed at Brussels".

Writing in the Daily Mirror, the head of the GMB union, Tim Roache, says the extra cash is "based on Tory divisions not the needs of working people".

Analysis in the Times questions whether all the money can be spent in 91 days.

The Mirror says the huge sum needs to be spent elsewhere, and likens preparing for a no-deal to fastening your seat belt before driving over a cliff.

Writing in the Guardian, the European Parliament's Brexit co-ordinator, Guy Verhofstadt, says Brussels is expecting Britain to ramp up its no-deal planning to intimidate other EU countries.

But, he warns "there isn't time to limit the damage of a sudden severance".

The Guardian also reports that US congressional leaders have warned they will almost certainly block any future American-UK trade deal if Brexit affects the Irish border and jeopardises peace in Northern Ireland.

The Republican co-chairman of the Friends of Ireland group, Pete King, says the threat to abandon the backstop and endanger the open border is "a needless provocation". He makes clear he would defy his president over the issue.

Blair Gibbs has joined Downing Street from the Centre for Medicinal Cannabis campaign group, while a second aide, Danny Kruger, has also called for decriminalisation of the drug.

BuzzFeed says Boris Johnson has distanced himself from their views. But the Times suggests the revelations support a prediction that the UK will legalise cannabis within a decade.

image copyright PA Media image caption Roads - like the A555 in Greater Manchester - and homes were flooded as severe downpours hit the north of England

The devastation wreaked by the floods in the north of England is illustrated by most papers.

Many show a bridge near Grinton in North Yorkshire which has been destroyed; the Mirror shows the dramatic chasm left as the road is sliced in two.

The Mail looks back five years ago when the bridge was lined during the Tour de France.

The Daily Star speaks to a pub landlady who says she almost drowned when a 5ft tidal wave of floodwater hit her home.

The Telegraph reports that the Army is to create a new division dedicated to fighting cyber threats. Specialists will be deployed to counter the spread of misinformation through social media.

Meanwhile, the Times says new Justice Secretary Robert Buckland is backing a call to allow suspects in serious cases, including sex offences and fraud, to remain anonymous.

He has suggested judges could issue an order if the suspects were of good character.

And the Sun looks at the extreme but apparently legal efforts of an electrician to protect his van, under the headline: "Watt van man".