Newspaper headlines: 'Tory MPs plan vote strikes' and 'rail shutdown'

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By BBC News
Staff
PA Media

Closures are expected across the rail network later this month after the RMT Union voted in favour of a strike

The fallout from Monday's confidence vote in Boris Johnson's leadership again fills many of the front pages.

The Guardian says rebel Conservative MPs are drawing up plans for "vote strikes" to try to paralyse the prime minister's ability to make laws, starting with an upcoming bill to override parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

One rebel tells the paper that Mr Johnson is facing a situation similar to a scene in The Simpsons in which Bart Simpson's enemy, Sideshow Bob, "is encircled by rakes and continually hit by them as he steps in different directions". The i anticipates a "war of attrition" involving "daily attacks from the backbenches as Tory infighting escalates".

The Times says members of the cabinet are demanding Mr Johnson cut taxes if he wants to save his premiership. It quotes one anonymous minister who warns that the Conservatives are "not in a good place" and will lose the next election if they "keep taxation at the rate it is now".

The prime minister's allies have also told The Telegraph he should consider replacing Chancellor Rishi Sunak with one of the MPs who tried to oust him on Monday, former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, to help "heal rifts" between different factions of his party.

Several of the other papers focus on the various problems facing the transport network. "Total Rail Shutdown" is how The Metro describes the RMT Union's announcement of three national strikes in a fortnight's time. The Mail says the walkouts will "paralyse Britain" and criticises Labour for not condemning the action.

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For The Sun, the strikes, continued disruption at airports, and the soaring cost of petrol represent a "string of crippling blows". Its front page pictures a couple beside a barbecue in their back garden, saying it's the only option left for a "summer holiday treat".

The Mirror reports that nurses are queuing for charity food parcels because they are struggling to feed their families using just their income. It says at least six NHS Trusts have set up staff foodbanks or voucher schemes to help workers struggling with the rising cost of living.

The paper quotes from a speech delivered to the Royal College of Nursing's annual congress by former prime minister Gordon Brown in which he called for an "end to foodbank Britain", saying it was a "humanitarian issue" and "matter of common decency".

According to The Express, a vaccine based on mRNA technology, which was used to develop some of the coronavirus jabs, could train the immune system to recognise and attack pancreatic cancer. Scientists hope the therapy would stop tumours growing back after surgery by boosting the body's ability to find and destroy cancerous cells.

And The Star says that a "double whammy" of high pollen counts and thunder storms this week will cause "sneeze hell" for anyone afflicted by allergies.