Newspaper headlines: UK in 'meltdown' as country hits 'boiling point' By BBC News

Staff Published duration 26 July 2019

image copyright Aaron Chown/PA Wire image caption Mr Johnson's new-look cabinet is widely discussed in the papers

Two stories dominate the front pages - Boris Johnson's first Commons statement as prime minister and the record-breaking weather.

A number of papers bring the two stories together. Yesterday's temperature - 100F - is displayed above the Mail's headline - "Boiling point".

It says that as Britons basked on the hottest July day ever, Mr Johnson and Brussels went to war over no deal and there is now a tense stand-off over the Irish backstop.

The Financial Times says the EU's criticism of Mr Johnson's terms for talks on a new deal sets the scene for bruising clashes between Brussels and the new prime minister.

Other papers also suggest trouble ahead. "Johnson turns up the heat on Europe," the Telegraph headline declares.

For the Express , it's: "Boris on warpath with EU". As the i puts it, the new prime minister is spoiling for a fight with the EU.

The Spectator website says it's hard not to see a general election campaign taking shape, even on Mr Johnson's first day in the job.

According to the Times' main story, Mr Johnson's attempts to lock in the support of hardline Tory Eurosceptics have suffered a serious blow after one of them angrily turned down a ministerial role.

It says Steve Baker - one of the most senior Brexiteer MPs - told the prime minister that a job in the Brexit department would have left him "powerless".

The paper reports that Mr Baker had hoped for a significant role in shaping Brexit, but Mr Johnson has stripped the Brexit department of the no-deal preparations and handed them to Michael Gove in the Cabinet Office.

The radically changed cabinet comes under close scrutiny - with a picture from its first meeting on Thursday.

The Telegraph says it showed a relatively youthful, multicultural set of ministers.

The Mail says that although Mr Johnson's allies described the diverse team as a cabinet for modern Britain, some traditions still endure.

It points out that 15 of the 34 ministers attended either Oxford or Cambridge University, and four are Old Etonians too.

The i agrees that it is a diverse cabinet, but says there are questions about a string of appointments of ministers with unprogressive views and voting records.

image copyright PA Media image caption Commuters faced disruption at London St Pancras after overhead wires were damaged because of the heat

The Mirror says people used to joke that the British summer starts on the last day of July and ends on the first day of August - but not any more, it adds.

The heatwave is great news for our seaside resorts - the paper says - but less welcome for people stuck at work or having to travel on the badly disrupted rail network.

Unless we act, the extreme weather will become more frequent, it warns.

For the Express , the predictable chaos on the railways during the heatwave gave too many people a further reason to feel hot under the collar.