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Newspaper headlines: 'Top doctors boost school return plan' and PM's holiday photos

By BBC News
Staff

Published
1 hour ago
image captionLabour leader Sir Keir Starmer tells the prime minister "your chaos puts schools return at risk" in a warning carried on the front page of the Observer. He says the plans to get all children back to school in early September are now at "serious risk" after the government spent two weeks dealing with a self-inflicted "mess" over exam results. Sir Keir says the seriousness of ministerial failings meant a generation of children could face "missing out on their education".
image captionThe Sunday Express says Boris Johnson's plan to get all children back in classrooms next month has had a "major boost" from Britain's most senior doctors - including Prof Chris Whitty - who have warned that the long-term harm caused by not attending school is a greater risk to children than coronavirus.
image captionThe Sunday Telegraph also focuses on children returning to classrooms next month, but leads on a vow by the prime minister that a "failure to reopen schools is not an option". The paper quotes a Whitehall source who claims the PM has made clear that there can be "no ifs, no buts" in delivering on the national priority. It suggests Boris Johnson will personally lead No 10's drive to get all children back to school in the wake of the exams "fiasco". The front page also carries photographs of Mr Johnson with his fiancée Carrie Symonds, their baby son Wilfred and dog Dilyn on their summer holiday in Scotland.
image captionThe Mail on Sunday splashes with a "unanimous verdict" from the UK's chief medical officers that it is safe for children to return to school next month, as they face an "exceptionally small risk" from coronavirus. The paper says the rare statement "removes the final hurdle" for full-time teaching to resume. Meanwhile, the paper criticises Education Secretary Gavin Williamson and another minister who took holidays amid the exam results "fiasco". Photographs of the prime minister on holiday with his family also feature on the Mail's front page. His fiancée Carrie Symonds shared the photographs on Instagram after newspapers revealed the location of their getaway.
image captionLike the Mail on Sunday, the Sunday Times says Gavin Williamson was on holiday as the exams "fiasco" unfolded. But the paper says senior No 10 sources insisted the education secretary was working whilst he was away and had joined Zoom video conferencing calls with the PM and other ministers. The front page also reports the findings of a confidential report which suggests a serial killer who murders vulnerable elderly couples "may have been active in Britain since the mid-1990s and could still be on the loose".
image captionThe Sunday Mirror's front page says that Manchester United captain Harry Maguire could have a "get out jail free card" thanks to a loophole in Greek law which allows some jail terms to be paid off. The Syros prosecutor's office said on Friday that "three foreigners" had been arrested after an alleged altercation with police officers in Mykonos on Thursday. The England footballer, 27, has pleaded not guilty - although it is unclear to what charges - and was released from police custody following his arrest on Mykonos. His court date has been set for Tuesday but he can be represented by his lawyer and will return home.
image captionThe Sunday People also covers the Harry Maguire case on its front page. Like the Sunday Mirror, the paper says the footballer could face three years in prison if found guilty of the charges - which he denies - or buy his freedom. The front page also reports that £10m has been spent protecting the Manchester Arena bombing plotter, Hashem Abedi, from "jail gangs" after he was sentenced to 55 years in prison.
image captionThe Daily Star on Sunday claims a showbiz exclusive with claims by reality television personality Jake Quickenden that he was "beaten up" by his brother's ghost.

'Safe to return to school'

"It is safe to go back to school," declares the Mail on Sunday in its front page headline. The Mail concludes the comments from the chief medical officers - that children face an "exceptionally small risk" from coronavirus - are "powerful and persuasive."
But the Sunday Telegraph is frustrated that the government's only now making clear that depriving children of school hurts - suggesting it's something lots of us have known for months.
The Sunday Express blames the hard left, teaching unions, and parts of the Labour Party for running a campaign to keep schools shut or partially open.
But union leaders tell the Observer that ministers haven't given them proper guidance.
image copyrightReuters
image captionPrime Minister Boris Johnson previously visited a primary school in Upminster to see its coronavirus safety measures
The Sun on Sunday reveals what it calls the government's "doomsday plan" - a leaked document looking at a worst case scenario of a second wave of Covid-19 and a no-deal Brexit. The dossier paints a bleak picture of food and fuel shortages, with troops on the street. The government stresses this isn't a forecast but just contingency planning.
The Oxford professor of evidence-based medicine, Carl Heneghan, tells the Express that he fears many people have over-estimated their risk of Covid. He believes the government should reassure them and rule out any further lockdowns, even local ones, saying the science doesn't warrant them.

'Economy can't afford second lockdown'

In its editorial the Sunday Times backs local controls but urges ministers to stop mutterings about what it calls "the blunt instrument of a national lockdown". It says the consequences for the economy "do not bear thinking about".
As Chancellor Rishi Sunak grapples with the state of the public finances, the Telegraph says he's launched what it calls a "war on waste". There's a warning that funding may be withheld from infrastructure projects that are poorly thought out.
The Telegraph suggests doubt has been cast on the new headquarters planned for the body replacing Public Health England because of its price tag - some £350m.
image copyrightAndy Rain/EPA
image captionThe Telegraph says Chancellor Rishi Sunak has launched a "war on waste"

Who will lead anti-obesity fight?

According to the Observer, the decision to close the public health agency has angered campaigners and officials who want to know who will now take responsibility for the national fight against obesity.
Its successor, the National Institute for Health Protection, will deal with pandemics and infectious diseases - but not health protection roles. The chairman of the National Obesity Forum, Tam Fry, said this reinforced his scepticism about the commitment to tackle the problem.
Whitehall sources insisted the government was committed to the anti-obesity drive.