Newspaper headlines: Tories 'imploding' and 'Rwanda plan risks failing'

Rishi Sunak

Almost all of the papers lead on Rishi Sunak's struggle to persuade his party to back the latest attempt to send migrants to Rwanda.

"Wounded PM faces growing rebellion" is the front page headline for the i. The Guardian and the Daily Express report that both right-wing and centrist Conservative MPs could vote against the Safety of Rwanda Bill when it comes before Parliament next week.

"Tories are imploding" declares the Daily Mirror, adding that Mr Sunak is struggling to stay in power. The paper says 18 MPs have submitted letters of no confidence in the prime minister and more are expected.

According to the Daily Mail, no one expects the threshold of 53 letters needed to trigger a leadership contest to be reached before Christmas, but if the mood doesn't change, that could happen in the new year and Mr Sunak could face a challenge.

The Daily Telegraph highlights a warning from the Conservatives' chairman, Richard Holden, that it would be "insanity" to oust Mr Sunak before the next election. He said divided partied didn't win elections and urged colleagues to be more "introspective."

"Stop squabbling and back the Rwanda Bill" is the Daily Mail's message for both right-wing and centrist Conservative MPs who the paper says are "plotting to torpedo the legislation".

The Mail's editorial says "with their infighting" the MPs are acting more like a bunch of unruly teenagers than a serious party of government. It urges them to "unite and subsume their petty, narcissistic quarrels to the overriding common good".

There's a similar message in the Daily Express's editorial. It says right-wing Conservative MPs should remember that if they kill the Rwanda bill there'll be little chance of deportation flights commencing before the next election, and wrecking the legislation would trigger a political crisis that could plunge Britain into another bout of economic instability.

On its front page the Times reports that two senior lawyers have warned Mr Sunak that his new legislation risks failing to secure deportations to Rwanda. The paper says the bill, which declares Rwanda to be a safe country for asylum seekers, still allows each migrant to make a challenge claiming that the east African nation isn't safe for them because of their individual circumstances.

In other news, the Sun leads on the investigation commissioned by ITV after it emerged that the former presenter of This Morning, Philip Schofield, had an affair with a young member of the production team. The paper says Mr Schofield and his former lover refused to cooperate with the inquiry and other staff said they feared for their jobs if they spoke out about the affair.

Writing in the Mail the Culture Secretary, Lucy Frazer, argues that prosecuting people for failing to pay their TV licence is "morally indefensible".She says the issue will be looked at as part of a review of BBC funding she's commissioned. The report should be published next autumn.

And finally, the Times highlights a Eurostat survey which has found Germany has dropped to the bottom of the EU's happiness rankings. Only the Bulgarians were less satisfied. The paper says Germans' concerns seem to be largely related to economic stagnation, although there is also evidence of a broader sense of insecurity linked to the war in Ukraine, disarray in government and concerns about immigration.