Newspaper headlines: Braverman 'pressure' for PM and 'smear' fears

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By BBC News
Staff
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Claims about the Home Secretary Suella Braverman are on several front pages. "Fast-Track Her Out" demands the Daily Mirror. The paper says it contacted her team six weeks ago asking if she had been caught speeding, and her aides denied it four times, suggesting that someone was spreading "scurrilous" rumours. In an editorial, the paper says Mrs Braverman is not up to the job personally, professionally or politically.

The Daily Telegraph says her allies believe she is the victim of a smear campaign. The Conservative MP, Miriam Cates, tells the paper it is no coincidence that a "concerted effort to discredit her" came after she was "very vocal about the need to put proper limits on legal migration". But according to The Times, other Conservatives believe she has questions to answer.

The motoring lawyer, Nick Freeman, known as Mr Loophole, tells the Daily Express that the home secretary has not done anything wrong by asking for a private speed awareness course. He says he has arranged such courses for several high profile clients.

On its front page the Guardian say Rishi Sunak is under intense pressure to launch an investigation into whether Mrs Braverman broke the ministerial code. A senior Tory source told the paper there was "no appetite" in Downing Street to defend her, because she has made "a totally unforced error." However, insiders also said there was no will for an overt move to oust her.

The Telegraph accuses Labour of "nanny statism" and "bossy interventionism that constricts personal freedoms and corporate prosperity." In an editorial, the paper criticises shadow health secretary Wes Streeting after he suggested that a Labour government would introduce tougher regulation to reduce alcohol and sugar consumption as well as smoking and vaping.

According to The Times, NHS patients will be encouraged to use the health service's app to book care in private hospitals, as part of a new plan to cut waiting lists. The paper says private diagnostic centres will also offer checks for cancer and other conditions in an effort to boost NHS capacity and speed up care.

The Express says it has spoken to a people smuggler who claims that France and other European countries could stop the trafficking of migrants to Britain, but do not want to. The man, described by the paper as an Iraqi Kurdish criminal, said the continental European countries were in effect getting rid of those people by sending them to the UK. He also said migrants risked their lives to come to the UK because it's "easy" to work illegally once here.

On its front page the Daily Mail highlights a report by the National Police Chiefs' Council that drug driving has become more prevalent than drink driving. The paper says on average 80 motorists are caught every day, but many may escape justice because of delays in processing blood tests. It takes four to five months to process tests, and officers have only six months to prosecute.

And finally the Daily Telegraph reports that Chelsea Flower Show is encouraging gardeners to grow a plant which releases a sap that can cause very strong pain, once described as "approximate to childbirth." Euphorbia, also known as spurge, is one of 10 drought-tolerant plants recommended as part of a drive towards more sustainable gardening.

The Royal Horticultural Society said people should wear gloves when handing the plant, especially when pruning.