Newspaper headlines: Team GB's 'flipping marvels' and new holiday 'crackdown'

By BBC News
Staff

Published: 7 hours ago

image captionThe Metro splashes on "another glittering day for Team GB" on the ninth day of the Tokyo Games as cyclist Charlotte Worthington clinched a gold medal while swimmer Duncan Scott took silver. Gymnast Max Whitlock is also pictured after winning the third Olympic gold of his career - next to the headline "The Max Factor".

image captionThe Daily Mail's front page also praises Team's GB's medal haul, describing Worthington and Whitlock as "flipping marvels". Meanwhile its splash reports that "growing numbers" of patients are funding their own life-saving surgery to the tune of up to £20,000 a time due to a record NHS backlog - with 5.3m people waiting for treatment.

image captionThe i reports that the Tories have been hit by a "poll slump" amid fears in the party that the "vaccine bounce" may be over. It says contributing factors include warnings over job losses when furlough ends next month, a drop in Boris Johnson's popularity after his "self-isolation U-turn" - and increasing pressure on the PM to save the tourism sector by allowing fully jabbed travellers to enjoy restriction-free holidays.

image captionThe Times splashes on the issue of summer holidays, reporting that Tory backbenchers are prepared to revolt over a "new crackdown" that would see travellers warned against visiting holiday hotspots like Spain. According to the paper, ministers are discussing creating a new amber watch list of countries that could move to the red list without notice which it believes will include Spain - and there are fears over Italy and Greece too. It adds the introduction of an amber watch list was due to be signed off on Thursday but the decision was delayed due to a "government split".

image captionThe front page of the Daily Express also splashes on the pressure on the PM over summer holidays, citing campaigners who warn he has "one last chance" to save both trips abroad and the "beleaguered" travel sector.

image captionDiscontent within the Conservative party also makes the Guardian's lead - but the paper's report focuses on MPs' opposition over the Treasury's spending this autumn and plans to cut Universal Credit at the end of September. The paper says several senior Tories have called on ministers to abandon the cuts, including Steve Baker who has criticised "intolerable" levels of hunger and poverty in his home counties constituency of Wycombe, in Buckinghamshire.

image captionThe Daily Telegraph's main story has more detail on the Covid vaccination booster programme which is due to begin next month. The paper reports that 2,000 pharmacies will help to deliver the third shots in the arms of 32m Britons. All adults aged 50 and over and the immunosuppressed will be offered the booster jabs, which the Telegraph claims could happen as early as 6 September. It adds that ministers are considering giving people a different brand of vaccine from their first and second shots as early trials suggested mixing jabs could boost the body's immune response.

image captionEngland footballer Tyrone Mings has told the Sun that he needed therapy for mental health problems during the Three Lions' Euros campaign. He says he had a "tough time" and had "no shame in admitting that".

image captionThe Daily Mirror reports on "fury" after an attack on an oil tanker that killed two people, including a British security guard. The paper reports that Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has blamed Iran and warned the UK will respond to the "callous" drone strike in the Gulf.

image captionThe Financial Times reports that "house prices are booming in almost every major economy" in the wake of the pandemic, with low interest rates, lockdown savings and a desire for more space fuelling the trend. But the paper warns that if the trend continues, it could become "unsustainable" that might ultimately push activity "into reverse".

image captionFinally Daily Star's front page criticises comments by broadcasters Piers Morgan and Jeremy Clarkson over the Olympics.

Concerns about the UK's travel restrictions dominate the front pages.

Boris Johnson has "one last chance to save summer," the Daily Express declares. "Give us a break," demands the Daily Mirror.

The Daily Telegraph says a "growing chorus of senior backbenchers" have voiced their frustrations about the possible creation of an amber watch list, which would allow quarantine rules to be applied at short notice.

The Times also warns of a "Tory revolt" - suggesting if Spain were given this status it would likely cause an exodus of up to a million British tourists.

The Daily Telegraph reports that Covid booster vaccines could start being offered to 32m people in Britain from as early as 6 September.

image sourceReuters

The paper says up to 2,000 pharmacies will help deliver the shots - so NHS staff can work on the backlog of patients needing other treatments.

According to the Daily Mail, waiting lists are so long that growing numbers of patients are going private for what it calls "life saving surgery." The Mail says some feel they have to pay for heart operations, which can cost up to £20,000.

The Daily Mirror warns that the foreign secretary's blaming of Iran for an attack on an oil tanker, which killed a British worker, risks "inflaming the already high tensions" between London and Tehran.

PM facing 'backbench rebellion'

Dominic Raab yesterday condemned the drone strike as "unlawful and callous". The Daily Mirror says the statement drags the UK into a conflict that could have Israel and the US escalating threats against Iran.

The Guardian suggests that the prime minister is facing a "significant backbench rebellion" over concerns about what it calls a "hunger crisis" in the home counties.

Steve Baker, the Conservative MP for Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, is urging ministers to retain the £20 uplift to universal credit and end the five week delay for new claimants.

A study has shown that 14% of his constituents reported being hungry this winter and a third couldn't afford food. A government spokesperson said the benefit had provided a vital safety net for millions, and now its focus was on a multi-billion pound plan for jobs.

'Housing fever'

The Financial Times reports that house prices are booming in almost every major economy.

The FT suggests that the "housing fever" - as one economist dubs it - has been fuelled by low interest rates, people making savings during lockdown, and wanting more space after working from home.

An international banker suggests the trend is a good thing in the short-term but warns of the consequences should it persist.

The Sun reveals what it calls the "mental health battle" of the England footballer, Tyrone Mings during the Euros.

The Aston Villa defender said he sought therapy during the tournament. Mings explained that he thought that up to 95% of the country had doubts about him, and it was "difficult to stop this intruding" into his thoughts.