Newspaper headlines: 'Le stitch-up' at Calais and PFI deals criticised By BBC News

Staff Published duration 18 January 2018

Britain's extra payments for border security at Calais is "Le Stitch-up," according to the Daily Mail.

The paper says while the French have demanded £45m to boost efforts to deal with migrants at Calais, the UK will get to "borrow the Bayeux Tapestry as a sweetener".

The Sun says Prime Minister Theresa May has been accused of "caving in" to President Emmanuel Macron.

Former Tory leader, Iain Duncan Smith, warns against setting a precedent of giving what he calls "bungs".

image copyright Reuters image caption People in Calais' "Jungle" migrant camp in 2016

But the government insists the deal will save millions of pounds in the cost of processing illegal migrants and asylum seekers who reach Britain.

The Times suggests the French president will ask Mrs May for more money to revive the Calais economy - a demand senior government officials say the prime minister will reject.

Meanwhile, the Daily Express urges Mrs May not to accept more child migrants, saying "stay firm, prime minister."

MP's apology

Conservative Party vice chairman, Ben Bradley, faces fresh controversy over his historical blogs.

The Times says that after the London riots in 2011 he suggested "police brutality should be encouraged".

According to the Daily Mirror , in 2012 the MP backed a London council's plan to relocate people on benefits hundreds of miles from home.

He called it "incredibly sensible", saying they don't work in the city so "why do we need them to be there?"

Mr Bradley has apologised for both comments.

BuzzFeed also reports that six years ago he said public sector workers were "lost in their own fantasyland" and should quit if they were unhappy about their pay.

image copyright EPA

A number of South Korea's online news sites raise objections to Seoul's decision to field a joint team with North Korea in the women's ice hockey at the Olympics.

The Chosun Ilbo points out that members of the South Korean team risk losing the chance to play at the Olympics, having given up their careers to do so.

The Joongang Daily suggests "the government appears to be turning a blind eye to the blood, sweat and tears of our athletes to prioritise its political goal".

Dumbing down?

Many of the papers challenge their readers to have a go at the Montreal Cognitive Assessment taken by US President Donald Trump as part of his recent physical.

"Are you fit to be US president?", asks the Daily Mirror

The Sun says the test is "too easy," revealing three 10-year-olds earned high scores.

The Washington Post questions the health of Mr Trump's doctor, after what it calls his "effusive" assessment of the president.

It highlights the fact he repeatedly used the word "excellent" and spoke of "incredible genes".

A psychiatrist suggests to the paper that Mr Trump's courtiers "lose touch with reality".

image copyright PA

Several papers carry the photograph of a Specsavers company car that collided with a lamp-post.

The original picture was posted on social media under the hashtag #ShouldveGoneTo.