The Papers: \'Partisan pipsqueak\' and \'stunning\' Downton film

Newspaper headlines: 'Partisan pipsqueak' and 'stunning' Downton Abbey film

By BBC News Staff
Image caption The resignation of House of Commons Speaker John Bercow leads many of Tuesday's papers, with The Daily Telegraph saying Mr Bercow's move is "timed to ensure" Remain-supporting MPs choose his replacement. Cartoonist Matt cheekily suggests Parliament's suspension cut short the Speaker's leaving speech by five weeks.
Image caption The Speaker's departure leads the i newspaper, which says his decision prompted "Brexiteer fury". The paper also touches on Theresa May's resignation honours list, which it says is "revenge on her party rivals". The i gives the new Downton Abbey film a four-star review. "Downton shines on the big screen," it says.
Image caption Mr Bercow's resignation also leads the Metro, which says the planned departure date of 31 October - the day Britain is due to leave the EU - is a "final jab" at Boris Johnson. "Order! And out," the paper says next to an image of the tearful Speaker in the Commons on Monday. Meanwhile, the stars of the new Downton film are pictured. "Many Abbey returns," the paper says.
Image caption "No shame," the Daily Mirror says of former Prime Minister Theresa May's resignation honours, with Labour chair Ian Lavery telling the paper the list of gongs shows the Tories "only care about looking after their own".
Image caption The Times leads on John Bercow quitting as Speaker. It also reports on its front page that a new minute-by-minute account of the asteroid strike that wiped out the dinosaurs has been pieced together by a rock sample found off the coast of Mexico showing the force was equivalent to 10 billion Hiroshima bombs.
Image caption Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson is ready to officially call for Article 50 - which triggered Britain's exit from the EU - to be revoked, the Guardian reports on its front page. The move would be part of an effort to position the Lib Dems as "the most pro-EU political party," the paper adds.
Image caption The Daily Express says Boris Johnson made a "barnstorming" late-night speech to the Commons as he ruled out asking the EU for a further delay over Brexit. The paper says the PM "savaged" MPs for refusing to back a general election.
Image copyright Daily Mail
Image caption The Daily Mail claims a victory for its campaign on addictive prescription drugs, saying an official review will call for a national helpline and new guidelines for when doctors should intervene. One in four adults has been given potentially addictive pills over the past year, the paper adds. It also has room for its take on the Speaker's resignation. "End of the Bercow show, the partisan pipsqueak who disgraced his office," it says.
Image caption A rise in people addicted to prescription drugs also leads the Sun. "Top of the poppers," its headline reads. The front page gives news of the Speaker's resignation a small showing. The paper says Mr Bercow has "vowed to still frustrate" Boris Johnson "despite being toppled by the Tories".
Image caption British banks face a "deluge" of last-minute compensation claims over the payment protection insurance scandal, the Financial Times reports. The paper says millions of customers "raced" to submit claims ahead of the late August deadline. The total cost has hit £50bn, the FT adds.
Image caption A slight break from Brexit and Westminster drama as the Daily Star reports Strictly Come Dancing's Kevin Clifton was helped to overcome "depression and alcohol demons" by the late Princess Diana's life coach.

A red-eyed John Bercow appears on a number of Tuesday's front pages, photographed during his emotional resignation speech from the Speaker's Chair in the Commons.

Much like the MPs who heard it, only half of whom applauded, the commentators are divided. The Financial Times and the Guardian note Mr Bercow's role in empowering backbenchers and the Daily Mirror says history will be kinder than his enemies.

Ian Dunt, writing on Politics.co.uk, says Mr Bercow was the right man in the right place at the right time: an activist Speaker when the government worked actively to dismiss, degrade and eventually suspend Parliament.

But the Times calls Mr Bercow a polarising figure, while the the Daily Telegraph says he leaves a legacy of mistrust.

The Daily Mail's Richard Littlejohn dismisses the Speaker as "the partisan pipsqueak who disgraced his office". In the Sun's view, he's a "pompous windbag who embodies an illegitimate, anti-democratic establishment long overdue its reckoning".

The Daily Express prefers to focus on what it calls Boris Johnson's barnstorming Commons performance, in which he refused to ask the EU for a delay, and accused opposition MPs of "cowardice" for stalling a general election.

By contrast, Robert Shrimsley in the FT thinks Mr Johnson's increasingly shrill statements and briefings show all the attributes of a weak man trying to look strong. HuffPost UK's Paul Waugh describes him as a "zombie PM in a zombie Parliament".

'Pill popping nation'

In other news, the Daily Mail welcomes a promise of action by Health Secretary Matt Hancock to help patients addicted to prescription drugs.

The paper has been campaigning for greater recognition of the problem and it hails as a victory official recommendations for a national helpline and new guidelines for doctors.

The story is also the lead in the Sun, which says Britain has become "a nation of pill poppers".

'Honouring cronies'

Theresa May's resignation list is the main story for the Daily Mirror which accuses her of showering a host of blundering cronies with honours.

"Mrs May exploited the system to recognise the loyalty and devotion of her own officials," the paper says.

The Guardian returns to Whaley Bridge, the Derbyshire town that was threatened with disaster six weeks ago when a dam threatened to collapse, and finds it has become a "magnet for disaster tourists" including busloads of Chinese visitors keen to take photos of the reservoir.

Businesses are bustling and the local baker says she has been working around the clock since reopening after the evacuation. Some call it the Chernobyl effect, says the Guardian, only without the deadly radiation.

And finally

The Times recounts how the Hollywood star of a new film set in Wolverhampton perfected the Black Country accent by working undercover in a local gift shop for two weeks last summer.

Beanie Feldstein, a native of Los Angeles, was cast in How to Build a Girl after producers struggled to find a British actress for the part of a teenager desperate to escape Wolverhampton.

Her co-workers in the shop said that she blended in well and quickly fooled locals with her mastery of obscure Black Country phrases.

The actress became particularly fond of the phrase "ta-ra a bit", meaning goodbye, and staff now hope it will catch on in California.