Newspaper headlines: Ministers defy Covid inquiry and Schofield speaks

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By BBC News
Staff
PA Media

Friends tell the Daily Mirror that Holly Willoughby will co-operate fully with the inquiry into the scandal surrounding former This Morning co-host Phillip Schofield

A number of Friday's papers lead with the news the government is taking its own Covid inquiry to a judicial review after refusing to hand over a cache of messages sent between former prime minister Boris Johnson and 40 others during the pandemic.

"Ministers go to war with judge over Covid WhatsApps" is the headline in the Daily Mail. The paper describes the announcement as "an extraordinary move". According to the Financial Times, there is an "awareness in Whitehall" that if the messages are submitted it will set a precedent for what other ministers, including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, might have to hand over.

The Times says the government hopes the legal battle will begin "within weeks, rather than months". The i says legal experts believe the Cabinet Office is "unlikely to succeed", although it also quotes a senior government source who says ministers "wouldn't be taking this step if they didn't think they had strong legal grounds".

The Sun's front page carries a photo of a stern-faced Phillip Schofield, who has spoken to the paper to respond to what he calls a "week of lies" on social media. In the interview, he insists he didn't lie about his affair with a young colleague in order to protect his career, but because the man didn't want his name to be revealed. He tells the paper he has "massive" amounts of guilt and regret and that he will "die sorry".

Meanwhile, the Daily Mirror leads with a contrasting image of Mr Schofield's former co-star, Holly Willoughby, smiling on a beach in Portugal. Sources close to her tell the paper she has "nothing to hide" and will co-operate fully with an external inquiry into the handling of the scandal.

The Daily Telegraph reports that police have impounded a pleasure boat as part of the investigation into the deaths of a 17-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl off Bournemouth beach on Wednesday. It says the ship is under police guard at Poole Harbour and that an online tracker shows it left Bournemouth Pier seven minutes before the first call to emergency services after the incident. In an update on Thursday, police said the investigation was in its early stages and that detectives were still working to establish the circumstances that led to the deaths.

PA Media

The organisers of the Epsom Derby hope to avoid a repeat of the disruption seen at the Grand National in April, when animal rights activists broke onto the course

The Guardian says that GCSE and A-level students in England are increasingly opting for more vocational subjects instead of creative and cultural ones. It cites provisional figures which show that, compared with last year, A-level exam entries for German have fallen by 13% while those for computing have risen by 15%. Business studies and economics were also more popular, but fewer pupils wanted to take exams in performing arts, Spanish, or French.

The Daily Express says security at Saturday's Epsom Derby will be "beefed up" because of concerns it might be targeted by animal rights protesters. The organisers tell the paper they "will not tolerate a repeat of the law-breaking stunts" seen at the Grand National in April. They say they've spent £150,000 on additional staff for the event.

And the Daily Mirror reports that an antiques collector believes he has discovered a sword that belonged to King Charles II - in a job lot of artefacts bought in Plymouth. Andrew Green tells the paper that tests have confirmed the sword belonged to the monarch, who ruled England, Scotland, and Ireland until his death in 1685. He says it first resurfaced in 1903, when it was sold to a collector for 18p - or about £28 in today's money.