Newspaper headlines: 'Too late' to stop no deal and menopause 'halted' By BBC News

Staff Published duration 4 August 2019

image copyright AFP image caption Dominic Cummings, the prime minister's aide, said it is "too late" to stop no-deal Brexit

The Sunday Telegraph reports that Boris Johnson's most senior aide, Dominic Cummings, has told officials and ministers that it is "too late" to stop a no-deal Brexit.

Mr Cummings is said to have insisted that even if Labour calls a no-confidence vote when Parliament returns, the prime minister can delay a general election until after the Brexit deadline of 31 October.

Mr Cummings is said by the paper to have claimed that an election in this scenario would lead to a Conservative majority.

A piece in the same paper by the chairman of the Brexit Party, Richard Tice, argues that the Tories are unlikely to win a majority, and warns that they are "finished in their current form" unless they "deliver on Boris Johnson's promise to leave with a proper Brexit".

The Leave.EU founder, Arron Banks, tells the Sunday Express that "at least 10" Conservative MPs have asked him to persuade Nigel Farage not to field Brexit Party candidates against them at the next election.

There is said to be a "fear" among the Tory ranks that splitting the Brexit vote will benefit Labour and keep Britain in the EU.

The Sunday Times, meanwhile, has learned that the People's Vote campaign is plotting to remove Conservative Brexiteers - and stop a no-deal Brexit - with tactical voting by Remainers.

The paper says 100 marginal seats are being targeted, including those of the former leader, Iain Duncan Smith, and Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers.

Brexit 'alarm'

"Get New Orders, Monsieur Barnier" is the headline in the Mail on Sunday, which carries a message from Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay to the EU's chief negotiator.

Mr Barclay writes that 61% of the European Parliament's members changed in the elections in May, and as a result Michel Barnier no longer has a mandate.

Mr Barnier, he adds, should get new instructions to negotiate a new deal, or accept that "no-deal is coming down the tracks".

Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson tells the Independent that pro-European Conservative former ministers must "stand up and be counted" and stop Britain leaving the EU without a deal. She confirms that talks have been held with potential Tory defectors.

The Observer says it has seen a "secret" report by the Department for Education that predicts a no-deal Brexit could lead to school closures, exam disruption and a lack of fresh food for pupils' meals.

The document is said to warn that informing the public about the risks could "spark undue alarm" and lead to panic buying.

A spokesperson for the department insists it is "confident provision for schools will be protected".

The Sun on Sunday reveals that an unnamed British sports star will announce next month that they are HIV positive.

image copyright Getty Images image caption Life imitated dystopian art for sci-fi TV writer Charlie Brooker and wife Konnie Huq

The paper says the declaration on Twitter will be timed to coincide with an event in which they're competing.

It says the international star hopes to fight the stigma surrounding HIV and show that people living with the virus can still live healthy lives.

Screenwriter Charlie Brooker has made a living imagining how technology may affect our lives in the future, but the Black Mirror creator is said by the Sunday Times to have seen it take over his own family.

In an interview with the Sunday Times Magazine, his wife - the former Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq - reveals that they had to switch off their voice-activated assistant when one of their young sons called their dad Alexa by mistake.

The Mail on Sunday says several stars have been criticised for attending the 90th birthday party of the billionaire inventor of the Glock handgun , having spoken out about gun violence in the past.

It says the guests included the supermodel Naomi Campbell, who has expressed horror at America's gun problem.

There was also said to have been a performance by the singer Leona Lewis, who attended a protest rally in Los Angeles last year.

A source close to Ms Campbell tells the paper she had been there to support the Glock family's horse charity, while a source close to Ms Lewis argues that she felt she was "in good company", as other stars had performed for them in the past.

As Boris Johnson announces additional funding for the health service, the Health Secretary Matt Hancock uses an article in the Sun on Sunday to insist that the Conservatives "are the party of the NHS".

He describes the cash injection as "more than the entire annual budget of NASA", and says it will ensure everyone can "get the best care in the world".

The director of the Institute of Fiscal Studies, Paul Johnson, asks in the Mail on Sunday where the money is coming from

He says that, after nine years of austerity, the message now coming from Downing Street is "spend, spend, spend" - and cautions that "spraying it around" could be risky when the effects of a no-deal Brexit are unknown.

image copyright Getty Images image caption Guide Dogs for the Blind has received an unusual request for an adventurous husky

In what it calls a "world exclusive", the Sunday Times offers new hope for women facing premature menopause, revealing a new surgery that can delay its onset by up to 20 years.

The scientist who pioneered IVF, Prof Simon Fishel, has developed a procedure to remove a piece of an ovary, which is frozen and re-implanted later to "kickstart their natural hormones".

It says nine British women have already had the surgery.

The Sunday Times also carries the story of the unusual request made to Guide Dogs for the Blind - for an animal that can help an elite rock climber