Newspaper headlines: Cabinet 'splits' and 'don't panic' pleas By BBC News

Staff Published duration 24 February 2019

Cabinet rifts over Brexit continue to get widespread coverage.

The Sunday Telegraph says it understands that the Chancellor Philip Hammond and David Lidington, the prime minister's de facto deputy, are lobbying Theresa May to publicly pledge that she will not take the UK out of the European Union without a deal at the end of next month.

image copyright JESSICA TAYLOR/UK Parliament image caption Is the PM facing lobbying from David Lidington (left) and Philip Hammond?

Sources have told the paper they are acting in a "pincer movement" with their cabinet colleagues Amber Rudd, David Gauke and Greg Clark - who on Saturday claimed Brexiteers would be at fault for any delay because of their opposition to the current deal.

But the Northern Ireland minister John Penrose tells the paper an attempt to remove the option of a no-deal departure "could torpedo Brexit completely".

The former Brexit minister David Jones agrees , telling the Sunday Express it would be "the greatest folly possible". Senior Brexiteers are urging Mrs May to not panic, the Express adds on its front page.

The Sun on Sunday calls the actions of Mr Clark, Ms Rudd and Mr Gauke "shamefully self-serving" . It says the prime minister is facing a crucial Brexit vote this week with a gun to her head "held by her closest colleagues".

Meanwhile, the Sunday Times says five cabinet ministers have rounded on Ms Rudd and are calling for the work and pensions secretary to be sacked for publicly threatening to defy the PM.

In the Sunday Mirror, former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown writes that delaying the UK's departure "is now the only sensible game in town".

Exodus warning

image copyright Getty Images image caption The 11 ex Labour and Tory MPs in the Independent Group at a photocall last week

The Observer says some of Labour's most influential figures are urgently warning Jeremy Corbyn to change his approach to anti-Semitism, Brexit and factional infighting to prevent a major exodus of MPs, peers and councillors.

The founder of Momentum, Jon Lansman, has given an interview to the Independent in which he says his organisation's Corbyn-supporting activists will try to unseat the former Labour MPs, in the hope of accelerating the group's downfall.

According to leaked government documents the money will also be spent on programmes to de-radicalise returning children, the paper reports. Its Sun Says column calls the decision "astonishing".

The Conservative chairman of the foreign affairs committee, Tom Tugendhat, writes in the Sunday Telegraph that there should be a new treason law which returning Jihadists would face.

Cassette revival?

Teachers are warning that predators could be using a new phone app to target children, according to the lead story in the Sunday Mirror.

image copyright Getty Images

Schools around the UK have written to parents to warn them about the TikTok app - which allows direct messaging, live streaming and public comments on posts.

A TikTok spokesman tells the paper they have a number of protective measures in place.

Sales were up 125% in 2018 on the year before.

At 50,000 sold in the UK it is considerably down on the 83 million bought in 1989, but is a 15-year high.

The techno DJ, Phin, tells the paper she likes the tangibility of a collectible format and also that unlike digital music, tapes have a lifespan - they decay and die.

Scotties 'at risk'

But there is less good news about Queen Victoria's favourite type of dog - the Scottie.

image copyright Getty Images

The Mail on Sunday reports the breed used to advertise everything from whiskey to shortbread is in danger of being wiped out.

It has been placed on the "at risk" register by the Kennel Club.

The decline in numbers has been put down to the rise in popularity of designer dog breeds, such as the cockapoo and labradoodle.