Newspaper headlines: 'Tories in peril', and PM's 'bare-faced cheek'
By BBC News
Staff
- Published
The Sunday Telegraph continues the paper's coverage of the migrant crisis. The prime minister has reportedly been warned by members of his own party that English Channel crossings by migrants in small boats could "destroy" the Conservatives. Boris Johnson has been accused of edging to the centre ground, similar to former Conservative PM David Cameron, the paper notes. One party donor, who the Telegraph is not naming, is quoted as saying: "When you move to the centre, you open up a gap in your right flank and somebody comes in and sets up there. You can't get a majority there."
And the prime minister is facing pressure on another front: social care. According to the Observer, Mr Johnson has been urged by Conservative backbenchers to scrap plans which would see some of England's poorest pensioners paying more for care. The paper says the PM is facing a "potentially damaging" Commons rebellion from his own party. Meanwhile, the main image dominating the front page is of protesters in Vienna who are opposed to the Austrian government's lockdown measures.
Turning to the UK's handling of the pandemic, the Sunday Times reports that Health Secretary Sajid Javid has ordered a review into racial bias in medical devices over fears that thousands of ethnic minority patients died of Covid when they should have survived. Oximeters, which monitor blood oxygen levels, are less accurate on people with dark skin, the paper says research has shown. Writing in the Sunday Times, Mr Javid said: "One of the founding principles of our NHS is equality, and the possibility that a bias - even an inadvertent one - could lead to a poorer health outcome is totally unacceptable."
"Bare-faced cheek of Boris" is the Sunday Mirror's headline, accompanied by a photograph of the prime minister appearing to be on a crowded train without a mask. The paper says the picture was taken on Thursday - just hours after he apologised for failing to wear a face covering in a hospital.
Despite the criticism being levelled at the prime minister, the Sunday Express says Mr Johnson still has the support of "loyal" red wall Tory MPs, who think he is the "winner" they need to lead them into the next election. Although they hint that the migrant crisis needs addressing.
Meanwhile, the Mail on Sunday claims that members of the Royal Family are "at war" with the BBC over a documentary due to be broadcast on Monday, which the paper says has been condemned as "tittle-tattle" by a senior royal source. The Queen, Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge, the paper says, are "furious" that the BBC has reportedly not shown the programme - The Princes and the Press - to Buckingham Palace officials before it airs.
Elsewhere, the Sunday People carries on its front page an appeal from a teenager who has a rare kidney disease. William Verden, 16, and his family are asking doctors to continue his treatment after medics recommended he receive palliative care instead, according to the paper.
And the Daily Star Sunday says low salt reserves and a shortage of gritter drivers this winter does not bode well for Britain's roads, as snow is reportedly due to fall later this week.