Newspaper headlines: 'General election now' and 'allies abandon Johnson'

By BBC News
Staff
The majority of Sunday's newspapers lead with the fallout from Boris Johnson's resignation as an MP. The Sunday Mirror says that Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called for a snap general election, saying PM Rishi Sunak has "lost control" of his government. All of Sunday's papers carry photos of Man City's win in the Champions League final.
The Sunday Times says Mr Sunak appears to have faced down a rebellion "orchestrated" by ex-PM Boris Johnson, whose "fury was threatening to propel the Conservative Party into civil war". The paper says sources close to Mr Johnson claimed up to six more Conservative MPs would stand down.
The Sunday People reports that Mr Johnson is "already plotting his return" and could "stand" in the seat of Nadine Dorries, who also resigned as an MP on Friday.
The Mail on Sunday says the prime minister has been told he will trigger "civil war" in the Tory party if he prevents Mr Johnson from making a political comeback. Writing in the paper, former Cabinet minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said he would "most strongly warn Conservative Party managers against any attempt to block Boris if he seeks the party nomination in another seat".
The Sunday Express says Mr Johnson's allies are warning he will be back "bigger and better than ever", as Mr Sunak faces the "nightmare" of three by-elections and a party at "war".
The Sunday Telegraph says Mr Johnson and his allies have "launched a co-ordinated attack" on the Sunak administration, threatening more parliamentary resignations after the prime minister's "dishonourable" failure to back him on Partygate and his honours list. The paper quotes a source close to Mr Johnson who claims Mr Sunak and his team conducted "a swindle, a dishonourable sleight of hand" by publishing a list of new peers that omitted some of the former prime minister's key allies and donors. No 10 says Mr Sunak simply adopted the names "approved" by the House of Lords Appointments Commission, the paper adds.
And the Daily Star leads with a story about Black Sabbath hero Geezer Butler who talks about curing his "obsession with Satanism".

There are conflicting views on whether Boris Johnson's resignation as an MP will destabilise Rishi Sunak.

The Sunday Times says Mr Johnson's mutiny has fallen flat. It say sources close to him had claimed that up to six more Tory MPs would resign, but a number of his supporters quickly ruled themselves out of any plot.

The Sunday Telegraph and the Sunday Express say more MPs close to the former prime minister could stand down. Both papers report that a secret meeting between Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak, earlier this month, is at the centre of the row.

According to allies of the former prime minister, Mr Sunak agreed to approve Mr Johnson's entire honours list, but then removed some of his key allies and donors when the list was published on Friday. Downing Street denies that and says Mr Sunak simply adopted the names "approved" by the House of Lords Appointments Commission.

Reuters

The Observer says anger at Boris Johnson is growing within the Conservative Party, and Mr Sunak is under pressure to bar him from standing as a Conservative candidate at the next election.

An unnamed member of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, who used to support Mr Johnson, tells the paper that "the pantomime has to end". But in his article in the Mail on Sunday, the former Cabinet minister, Jacob Rees-Mogg, argues that Mr Johnson's dramatic resignation "puts him in pole position to return as Conservative leader if a vacancy should arise".

In an editorial, the Mail argues that British politics "has got too small for its own good" if it has no room for Boris Johnson. The paper says at the last election, he won a mandate stronger than any other Tory leader since Margaret Thatcher, but was then brought down by back-room machinations.

Writing in the Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer urges Mr Sunak to "find a backbone" and call an early general election. Sir Keir says Mr Sunak has no mandate, and no strength to stand up to what he calls "Tory berserkers" determined to drag the country down with them.

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The Sunday Times reports that scientists in the Chinese city of Wuhan, working alongside the country's military, were combining the world's most deadly coronaviruses to create a mutant virus, just before the Covid pandemic began. US investigators have told the paper they believe the experiments led to the creation of Covid-19 and that it leaked into the city after a laboratory accident. China denies that.

Manchester City's footballers are pictured on the front pages as well as the back, celebrating their Champions League triumph, and the treble. "Three-mendous" reads a headline in the Sun on Sunday. Both the Mail and the Express call the team "history makers".

The Star or Sunday says the "elephant in the room" is the pending investigation into allegation of breaches of financial rules. But it says the team's manager, Pep Guardiola, is now a "footballing immortal", and a statue of him in Manchester will surely follow.