Newspaper headlines: End to sunbed dash and Brexit battles By BBC News

Staff Published duration 29 January 2018

There is no respite for Downing Street from the increasingly public divisions within the Conservative party over Brexit, which features on several front pages.

The Daily Telegraph says its revelation that Claire Perry described some Tory critics of the government as "swivel-eyed" is evidence of the increasing acrimony at the highest levels of the party.

According to the Daily Express, senior Tories have put Theresa May on notice that she faces the sack if she threatens to "sell out" by backsliding on Brexit.

The Times says EU negotiators expect Britain to seek a longer transition period - but to keep this secret to avoid a Tory rebellion.

But the Daily Mail says the chief whip will be told on Monday, at a meeting with members of the party's Brexiteer European Research Group, that no more compromises will be tolerated.

image copyright PA

The Financial Times reports that Britain is seeking powers to vet new EU laws agreed during the transition period after Brexit day in 2019 - and it says that risks setting the UK on a new collision course with Brussels.

Senior officials on both sides are said to fear that a battle over whether Britain automatically accepts all these rules could delay any transition deal, which Theresa May wants to agree at a Brussels summit in March.

An unnamed European government official is quoted as complaining that the British are "wasting everyone's time".

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The Daily Mirror says the risks associated with parents sleeping with a young baby have been revealed for the first time - with nearly three infants a week dying in England as a result of the practice.

Figures obtained from the Department for Education, by freedom of information requests, indicate that in the past five years, a total of 665 babies have died in cases where so-called "co-sleeping" was a factor.

The Lullaby Trust, which promotes awareness of sudden infant death syndrome, warns that parents can roll over in their sleep, causing overheating or suffocation.

'Shocking' increase

The 'i' leads with what it calls "shocking" figures on the extent of knife crime in UK schools.

It reports a big increase in the number of pupils caught carrying a weapon - to nearly 4,300 in the 12 months to last June.

The figure was up nearly two-thirds on 2013. The youngest child involved was a child of four in Northamptonshire.

The Guardian suggests that more than half a million young adults in England are enduring rented housing so squalid that it is likely to leave them needing medical attention.

The paper's analysis of government figures estimates that 338,000 homes rented by people under 35 are involved.

Rats, mouldy walls, exposed electrical wiring, leaking roofs and broken locks are among the problems highlighted.

Brits to oust Germans

The gripe might be an old chestnut, but the Sun's main story is that British holidaymakers can finally beat German tourists to hotel sunbeds - via a new booking system that allows them to grab one before leaving home.

One travel firm, Thomas Cook, is to email pool plans to customers, letting them reserve a lounger in a prime spot for their entire stay - at a cost of £22.

The Sun's headline is: "Wish You Were Herr?"