Newspaper headlines: No 10's 'day of tantrums' as PM's team 'torn apart'
By BBC News Staff
Published
image captionMost of Saturday's papers lead with the explosive exit of Dominic Cummings from Downing Street. The FT reveals details of what it describes as a "day of tantrums" in No 10. The paper says PM Boris Johnson confronted Mr Cummings and departing head of communications Lee Cain with proof the pair had "briefed against" his fiancé Carrie Symonds. Meanwhile. those left behind fear "explosive" retribution from Mr Cummings, who the FT says left Whitehall "carrying a cardboard box and a trove of potentially dangerous secrets".
image captionMr Cummings departs with a "broadside against his boss" according to the Daily Telegraph - claiming Mr Johnson is "indecisive" and accusing the PM of "dithering". The paper says Mr Cumming's allies also claimed Mr Johnson "had lost his powers of concentration". Allies of the PM, meanwhile, say claims of dithering applied to the occasions when Mr Johnson failed to do as Mr Cummings wanted. Mr Cummings tells the Telegraph that reports the PM accused him of wrongdoing during a final meeting were "invention". "We had a laugh together," he adds.
image captionPM's team "torn apart by feud", is how the i Weekend reports the saga. "Leave means leave: bitter end to life at Downing Street for Dominic Cummings," it adds. Tory MPs say Mr Johnson should now focus on the coronavirus pandemic and Brexit, the paper adds.
image captionMr Cummings' departure came during a "purge of the Brexiteers", says the Times. The paper claims the PM told his chief aide to leave Downing Street with immediate effect. There were fears, the paper adds, that Mr Cummings and Mr Cain would "poison the well" at No 10 if they were allowed to see out the rest of the year in post.
image captionThe Guardian declares the end of the "Cummings era", as it says both Mr Cummings and Mr Cain were blamed by MPs for "a macho culture and a series of communications crises". It says the PM has been urged to consider an MP as his next chief of staff to help heal divisions with backbench Tories.
image caption"See ya!" says the Daily Star, which has mounted a campaign of sorts against Mr Cummings in recent months. It describes the departing aide as "the weirdo blamed for destroying lockdown". His exit is "long overdue", the paper adds.
image captionElsewhere, a close friend of the late Diana, Princess of Wales. describes to the Daily Express her belief that BBC Panorama's 1995 interview "helped spark a chain of events that ended in her death". Tina Brown claims in the paper that Diana disregarded her royal protection officers in the belief they were being paid to spy on her.
image caption"Now rest in peace," says the Daily Mirror as it focuses on the victims of Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe following news of his death.
image captionHealth Secretary Matt Hancock has offered families hope there will be enough Covid tests for care home visitors by Christmas, the Daily Mail reports. Mr Hancock said a pilot scheme would end the need for "prison-style" plastic screens and other restrictions. "... but will it be too little too late?" the Mail asks.