Newspaper headlines: Labour's NHS 'rescue plan' and Tories' poll 'surge' By BBC News

Staff Published duration 13 November 2019

image copyright Getty/AFP image caption A number of the papers lead on Labour's plans for the NHS in England

The Guardian, the Daily Mirror and the i all lead with Labour's plans for the NHS in England.

It says the election pledge would amount to a 4.3% annual rise in funding and would be paid for by higher taxes on companies and high earners.

The paper reports that the plans have been welcomed by health think tanks and organisations representing NHS staff, with the chief executive of the Nuffield Trust telling the paper it would mean the NHS could "breathe a sigh of relief".

The i says the two parties are engaged in a "Battle for the NHS" , calling both parties' plans a "spending arms race".

Under the headline "Labour's 10-point plan to save the NHS", the Mirror says the proposals would mean new hospitals and surgeries, more staff and better equipment, and would - in the paper's words - "repair the damage of a decade of Tory austerity".

The Telegraph leads on Boris Johnson's promise that "Brexit will start a green revolution" , previewing what the paper says will be his first "policy-driven speech" of the election campaign later today.

It says he will steer the conversation back to Brexit by emphasising its benefits and positioning the Conservatives as "spearheading the drive to tackle climate change".

The paper suggests emphasising the party's green credentials is an attempt to appeal to Lib Dem supporters who might consider "lending their support to the Tories to keep out Jeremy Corbyn".

The latest poll by YouGov is the main story in both the Times and the Daily Express

The Times says the "Tories lead by 14 points after Farage climbdown". The poll, it says, suggests the majority of Brexit Party supporters in Conservative-held seats will switch allegiance to Boris Johnson.

The Daily Mail explains that the poll only gave respondents the option of supporting the Brexit Party if it's still running a candidate in their constituency. The new methodology shows the party's share of the vote "plunging to just 4%", it adds.

'Whitewash'

In other news, the Daily Mail says an official independent review of the HS2 High Speed Rail project has been disowned by one of its co-authors

The report, which was leaked by the Times yesterday, recommended that ministers commit to the project despite ballooning costs.

But Labour peer Lord Berkeley tells the Mail the report is a "whitewash" and has demanded his name be taken off it.

The Times says Lord Berkeley is a critic of the project who was included "to demonstrate balance".

The Times says there's particular concern about Elon Musk's plans to launch more than 40,000 into orbit to provide internet services.

The fear is that light pollution from their reflective surfaces will obscure astronomers' view of space.

The Times' Thunderer column calls for the laws that govern space to be updated and tightened up, noting that "the night sky is the birthright of all humans".

And finally, a number of papers carry the story of a rather unassuming five inch tall Chinese teapot with a broken lid that had spent years sitting on a shelf in a family home in Dorset.