The Papers: Brexit proposals ‘baffle’ and ‘fury’ at EU
The papers report on the prospect of Boris Johnson securing a deal before a key summit on Thursday. …
Many of the newspapers report the sentiment that the chances of a Brexit agreement appear to be diminishing.
The Guardian says a breakthrough “failed to materialise” this weekend, despite intensive negotiations, leading European Union leaders to conclude that it may now be impossible for the UK to leave by 31 October with a deal. The i says hopes of an agreement seem to be “slipping away”.
The Financial Times explains the process is “in jeopardy” because the EU is “baffled” by the UK’s “fiendishly complex” and “not properly worked out” customs proposals for Northern Ireland.
Therefore, the Times says, EU negotiators are demanding more concessions from Prime Minister Boris Johnson on customs arrangements.
The paper suggests Brussels is increasing pressure on Number 10 by saying it would be prepared to back the plan in principle even if a legal text cannot be finalised in time for Thursday’s EU summit – provided Mr Johnson gives ground.
The idea that the UK should offer fresh concessions has prompted “fury” from Brexiteers, according to the Daily Telegraph. An unnamed cabinet member tells the paper: “The EU needs to understand all their very clever negotiating tactics don’t mean anything if you can’t get a deal through the House of Commons.”
A number of the papers have been briefed about aspects of Monday’s Queen’s Speech. The Daily Express describes plans for a “law and order crackdown”, under which foreign criminals who “sneaked back into the UK after being deported” would face at least two years in jail.
The Daily Mail reports another proposed law would see murderers who refuse to reveal where they buried their victims spending longer behind bars.
Meanwhile, the Daily Mirror examines proposals to use new immigration rules to encourage skilled migrants to live outside London, reporting that Labour sees them as “confused” and a “gimmick”.
The organisation describes the cost the programme, which could include buying Royal Mail and the train companies, as “beyond eye-watering”. But Labour disputes the figures, telling the paper the CBI’s intervention is “incoherent scaremongering”.
The remorse expressed by the wife of an American diplomat, Anne Sacoolas, for a fatal car crash in which she is a suspect in the UK gets short shrift from the tabloids.
For the Sun they are “crocodile tears”. Mrs Sacoolas must now admit she was wrong to flee the UK, return from the US and let the police continue their investigations, its editorial says.
The Daily Mirror agrees that if she had “an ounce of decency” she would be on the “first flight back to Britain”. Mrs Sacoolas would get a fair hearing here, the paper concludes, so she “must return voluntarily – or be sent back by Donald Trump”.
The Guardian is one of several papers to note that, for the first time, renewable energy sources have provided more electricity to UK homes and businesses than fossil fuels.
The paper says figures from the last quarter confirm predictions by the National Grid that 2019 would be the first year since the Industrial Revolution that zero-carbon electricity – renewables and nuclear – overtook gas and coal-fired power.
Meanwhile another source of CO2 emissions, flights, is in the firing line of a report commissioned by the government’s climate change advisers.
The Times says the report concludes air miles schemes should be banned because they encourage excessive flying. The study says there is evidence that frequent flyer loyalty programmes are particularly damaging because they can result in people taking extra flights to “maintain their privileged traveller status”.
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Writing for the Daily Telegraph, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Max Hill, says criminal justice has not adapted at the same speed as the rest of society to the growing awareness of mental health.
His assessment is that up to one in five cases the CPS deals with involves a victim, witness or defendant with a mental health condition. We need to modernise our approach, knock down stigmas and ensure justice is delivered for all, he writes.
Finally, the Times reports on an unlikely boom in the construction of Almshouses. It is a result of our aging society and, the paper says, the lack of affordable housing. While entry requirements can be strict, and run in accordance with the benefactor’s wishes, they typically cost a fraction of the market rate to rent.
The boss of the Almshouse Association tells the Times the houses have been around since before William the Conqueror and clearly remain “a sustainable model for charitable giving”.
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