Ten Things You Need to Know Today Sunday2September

Senior Tories say Sir Lynton Crosby, the man who ran Theresa May’s election campaign, is secretly masterminding a bid to destroy her Brexit plan and install Boris Johnson in Downing Street. The Sunday Times says that May’s aides have held talks with civil servants about whether to call a general election if her Brexit deal is voted down by MPs.

The Help to Buy scheme could be axed amid concerns it is pushing up house prices. The Sunday Telegraph reports that ministers are planning a "fundamental review" of the policy that could see it replaced with a fresh arrangement that is "more targeted on those it is meant to be helping." One-fifth of households on Help to Buy have used it to upgrade their homes rather than to get onto the housing ladder. 

Child social care plunged more than £800m into the red in a single year, pushing services to "tipping point", says The Observer. Ministers are being asked for emergency funds to protect thousands of vulnerable children following the latest sign of the cash crisis engulfing councils across England. Theresa May has been warned by MPs that the crisis could cause another tragedy like the Baby P scandal of 2007.

Hundreds of prison staff have been caught smuggling drugs, weapons and mobile phones into jails, according to a Freedom of Information request by The Observer. The paper discovered that 341 staff in England and Wales had been dismissed, excluded, convicted or cautioned by police in the past six years as a result. In 2017 alone there were 71 cases of staff smuggling - up from 50 in 2015.

The parents of Alfie Evans have welcomed a baby boy, according to reports. The news comes four months after the death of their first son from a rare degenerative condition. Kate James, 20, is believed to have given birth in recent weeks to a boy they have named Thomas, after his father Tom Evans, who is 21. A neighbour told the Liverpool Echo: "He looks a bit like Alfie, he’s a lovely cute thing."