Newspaper headlines: Johnson\'s \'do or die\' Brexit pledge

Newspaper headlines: Johnson's 'do or die' Brexit pledge

By BBC News Staff
FT front page 26/06/19
Image caption The Financial Times is one of several papers to lead on Boris Johnson's "do or die" pledge to leave the EU with or without a deal on 31 October. The comments, made in a series of interviews on Tuesday, have prompted warnings from his Tory leadership rival Jeremy Hunt that the strategy would plunge the UK into a general election and hand the keys of number 10 to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Daily Express front page 26/06/19
Image caption The Daily Express describes the pledge as "bold" and says Mr Johnson has "put his political career on the line" by "categorically" ruling out any further delays to Brexit.
The Guardian front page 26/06/19
Image caption The Guardian interprets the promise as a hardening of Mr Johnson's position and says it comes as Eurosceptics extend their influence on his "faltering campaign" to become prime minister. The paper, along with a number of others, chooses a picture of Mr Johnson getting a friendly greeting from a puppy during a campaign visit to Surrey for its front page.
The Times front page 26/06/19
Image caption Mr Johnson's stance has been met with "dismay" in Brussels, according to the Times. EU diplomats have ridiculed the former foreign secretary's plans to address the Irish border and have attacked his suggestion that even if the UK left without a deal it could have tariff-free trade until an agreement is reached, the paper says.
I front page 26/09/19
Image caption Mr Johnson appears to have abandoned his previous caution for a "flurry of interviews", the i notes. Meanwhile, Mr Hunt has hit back, by saying he could be more trusted as prime minister and get a better deal with Europe, the paper reports.
Telegraph front page 26/06/19
Image caption Away from the Tory leadership campaign, the Telegraph's lead story reveals that hundreds of villages across the country have lost their GP surgery. Experts have said rural and coastal areas are being hit particularly hard by a national shortage of family doctors, forcing elderly and vulnerable patients to travel further for care, the paper reports.
Daily Mail front page 26/06/19
Image caption Doctors have voted to stop billing foreign patients for NHS care, arguing it makes medical staff "complicit in racism", the Daily Mail reports. Up to 500 delegates voted overwhelmingly in favour of abandoning the fees at the British Medical Association's annual conference in Belfast, according to the paper. But it cites Conservative MPs as saying opening up the NHS to the rest of the world is "reckless" when resources are stretched.
Metro front page 26/06/19
Image caption The Metro leads on the trial of a man accused of murdering a train passenger in front of his teenage son. The jury was told IT consultant Lee Pomeroy was stabbed 18 times by the alleged killer, Darren Pencille, the paper reports.
Daily Mirror front page 26/06/19
Image caption The Daily Mirror leads on what it describes as a family "legal war" over a £300,000 will. The step-daughters of an elderly couple found dead together have asked a judge to rule which one died last, in a bid to decide who gets their estate, according to the paper.
Daily Star front page 27/06/19
Image caption The Jeremy Kyle Show's bosses have been criticised by MPs after admitting the show's lie detector tests are not accurate, the Daily Star reports. The Commons culture select committee opened an inquiry after the reality TV show was axed in May, following the death of participant Steve Dymond.
Sun front page 26/06/19
Image caption Manchester City footballer Riyad Mahrez has been ordered by a judge to pay £3,612 to his children's nanny after promised expenses and overtime cash were withheld, the Sun reports.

Boris Johnson once again dominates the morning papers, with one phrase proving particularly irresistible to the editors.

"Do or die" are the words that leap out from the front pages of the Times, the Guardian, the Financial Times, the Express and the i.

Taken from Mr Johnson's interview with Talk Radio, it refers to his pledge to take the UK out of the EU by 31 October "come what may", if he becomes the next prime minister.

Image copyright Reuters
Image caption Mr Johnson undertook a series of media and public appearances on Tuesday, after being accused of avoiding scrutiny

The Times says his stance has been "met with dismay" in Brussels, with one diplomat telling the paper that his plans were "divorced from reality".

The Daily Express says Mr Johnson's "bold Brexit pledge" amounts to him "putting his political career on the line".

The Independent website brings us the reaction of Lord Kerslake, the former head of the civil service, who says that by tying himself to that date, Mr Johnson was like an escapologist who has "put on a straitjacket, padlocked the door and started the tap running".

The Telegraph warns that his Brexit pledges need to be followed through.

'National crisis'

Away from the Tory leadership battle, the Telegraph and the Daily Mail both lead with health stories.

The Telegraph reports that hundreds of rural villages have lost their GP surgeries. The paper's own investigation reveals the number of families living more than an hour away from their nearest GP has gone up by 40% in two years.

The paper calls it "a national crisis that needs to be urgently addressed".

The Mail front page headline claims doctors are saying it is racist to charge foreign nationals for using the NHS.

It comes after delegates at the British Medical Association's annual conference voted to back a motion that said charging visitors from other countries made medical staff "complicit in racism".

The paper says the doctors union will now lobby the Department of Health on the issue.

The Guardian says the existing rules have been criticised for stopping undocumented migrants from accessing the medical care they need because they could not pay the fees in advance - the paper says some of those denied care have died.

The Mail's editorial says changing the rules would let "health tourists exploit our system" and argues that Britain's national health service cannot afford to become an international one.

Sign up for a morning briefing direct to your phone

Under the headline "Hell is coming", the Independent website reports that a potentially dangerous heatwave is set to shatter records across Europe.

It says temperatures are expected to climb above 40C in parts of France, Germany, Spain and Italy, as hot winds from the Sahara blow in across the continent.

A French meteorologist has told Le Parisien newspaper the temperatures could feel more like a "terrible 47C" due to humidity.

The German newspaper Bild is urging its readers to have a siesta during the early afternoons, and to put their pyjamas in the freezer to keep cool at night.

Here, the Mail says revellers who were greeted by muddy puddles when they arrived at Glastonbury Festival can now look forward to wall-to-wall sunshine, with temperatures expected to top 27C by Friday.

Image copyright EPA
Image caption In Madrid children cooled off in a fountain

It may have been just an everyday story of country folk, but it seems The Archers may have actually been a tool of government control.

The Telegraph reports that Graham Harvey, who helped write hundreds of episodes, has admitted Radio 4's long-running soap tricked farmers in the 1950s into adopting modern farming methods.

He said the show subtly praised larger farms while small farmers were portrayed as "clowns" because the BBC supported the government agenda to modernise farming after World War II.