Newspaper headlines: 'Tories eye PM's throne' and 'Schools phones ban'

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Image source, Reuters

Several of Monday's front pages focus on the speech Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is due to give at the Conservative Party conference later. The Telegraph, external reports that those who refuse to go to job interviews could get lower benefits payments - a move that will create a dividing line with Labour, according to the Times, external. The Daily Express says Mr Hunt has vowed to "turn the screw on the workshy".

The Guardian, external claims that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is struggling to hold together what it calls his "fractured party" and says Tory factions threaten to wreck the conference. There is a similar sentiment in the i paper, external, which says the prime minister is battling to maintain discipline, as future leadership rivals threaten to overshadow the event with policy interventions.

Writing in the Telegraph, external, former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has revealed he asked Rishi Sunak to spend £2.3bn more on military support for Ukraine, before leaving his cabinet role. He warned the prime minister the UK had been overtaken by Germany as the largest European military donor to Kyiv. The government is yet to announce how much money it will give to Ukraine in the coming year.

The Daily Mail, external splashes on the education secretary's push for schools in England to ban mobile phones. A source has told the paper that Gillian Keegan believes the devices are a distraction which lead to disruptive behaviour and bullying.

Elsewhere, the Times, external claims that NHS hospitals are paying doctors up to £7,900 a shift to cover their colleagues who are on strike. The paper says medics are regularly getting more than £3,000 a shift with health bosses saying they have no choice but to cough up big sums.

The Daily Mirror, external says Ed Sheeran, Olivia Colman and Brian Cox have backed the paper's campaign for all primary school children in England to get free school meals. It reports that a host of stars have signed a letter to Mr Sunak which calls for an end to what it calls the child hunger "epidemic".

The Sun, external says Russian cyber-criminals targeted the Royal Family yesterday and brought down the official website. It was a denial of service attack, which sees sites bombarded with traffic. Buckingham Palace has not commented. The paper also claims that the HS2 rail project has 167 members of staff working in its HR department, at a cost of £8m a year. HS2 Limited said most of the costs were going towards engaging with local communities, which is a parliamentary obligation.

And most of the front pages carry photos from golf's Ryder Cup, with praise for Rory McIlroy. The Sun describes him as "Glory Rory", while the Express has the headline "McIlory Magic".

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