Newspaper headlines: PM’s legal backlash and doctors ‘braced’ for surge

Newspaper headlines: PM’s legal backlash and doctors ‘braced’ for surge

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By BBC News
Staff

image captionLeaked documents from the Department of Health show that coronavirus is spreading through care homes again, according to The Sunday Times. A memo sent to the health secretary’s team lists care homes in Bristol, Nottinghamshire, Wiltshire and Wolverhampton as among the worst hit. Meanwhile, former prime ministers Tony Blair and Sir John Major have written a joint article accusing Boris Johnson of “embarrassing” the UK by undermining the rule of law and jeopardising the Northern Ireland peace process.

image captionSome of the UK’s top lawyers have accused the attorney general Suella Braverman of sacrificing the UK’s reputation, side-lining legal advisers and bypassing the ministerial code after the government unveiled plans to breach part of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, The Observer says. Five QCs confronted the attorney general during the annual general meeting of the Bar Council on Saturday. Also on the front page is a photo and tribute to designer Sir Terence Conran, who has died at the age of 88.

image captionThe Sunday Telegraph reports that Britain is preparing to opt out of major parts of European human rights laws, including the Human Rights Act, risking a further row with the European Union. The PM’s aides and ministers are drawing up proposals, the paper adds. It comes as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accuses Mr Johnson of “reigniting old rows” over Brexit instead of focusing on the coronavirus response. Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, Sir Keir says: “Get on with Brexit and defeat the virus. That should be the Government’s mantra.”

image caption“End the trauma of lone births” is the headline on the front of the Mail on Sunday. The paper describes the “unimaginable anguish” facing thousands of women who cannot be joined by their partners when they give birth due to Covid restrictions. More than 60 MPs, including former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, are calling for NHS Trusts to lift their ban so women do not have to give birth alone.

image captionTories have allegedly bailed out “barbaric” fox hunts with coronavirus cash, the Sunday People leads with.

image captionThe PM has written in the Sunday Express vowing to shake-up the justice system, in what the paper dubs the “most radical sentencing reforms in 20 years”.

image copyrightBBB

image captionLeading the front page of the Sunday Mirror is a report that UFC champion Conor McGregor has been questioned by police in France over claims of attempted sexual assault and indecent exposure. He “vigorously denies” the allegation, the paper adds, and he was released without charges being filed.

image captionAnd the Daily Star Sunday reports that Sue Barker, Matt Dawson and Phil Tufnell have been left “blind-sided” after being axed from A Question of Sport.

Tony Blair’s former chief of staff, Jonathan Powell, who was one of the architects of the Good Friday Agreement,

uses an article in the Sunday Mirror to echo Mr Blair’s criticism of Boris Johnson’s plan to override part of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.

Mr Powell says the move risks “tipping us back to violence”, and calls on Conservative MPs to rebel in sufficient numbers to block it from progressing through the Commons.

The Sunday Express has a different take on the prime minister’s plan, saying Mr Johnson is “completely right to stand up for Britain against the bullying EU”.

The Sunday Telegraph says Mr Johnson is risking a new row with the EU as he prepares to opt out of major parts of European human rights laws.

According to the paper, the proposals could prevent many migrants and asylum seekers from using the legislation to avoid deportation and protect British soldiers against claims relating to overseas operations.

image captionTony Blair has joined Sir John Major in urging MPs to reject the Internal Market Bill
The former Supreme Court judge, Lord Sumption, uses his Sunday Times column to criticise the new coronavirus law coming into force on Monday, banning gatherings of more than six people.

He believes it would be better for people to make their own judgements – guided by their own vulnerabilities and their own tolerance to risk – than for the government to impose blanket measures, which he describes as “despotic and ineffective”.

The Sunday Telegraph columnist Janet Daley believes that people will respond to the new law rationally, by doing what they feel is right.

She suggests that the government has underestimated the “shock and indignation” that its new rule has produced around the country – which she believes may have damaged its authority “beyond repair”.
The Sunday Mirror claims an exclusive – reporting that doctors are “braced” to re-open Covid wards to deal with a surge in coronavirus cases.

It claims medics have been told that emergency measures will be necessary from 2 October, but health officials would not confirm to the paper that such preparations were under way.

image copyrightDesign Museum/PA Wire
image captionSir Terence Conran has died aged 88

Many of the papers include tributes to the designer Sir Terence Conran, who died on Saturday at the age of 88.

The Observer credits the founder of the Habitat furniture chain as “the man who dragged Britain’s front rooms and parlours into the modern age almost single-handedly”.
“Visionary and proud patriot who gave Britain duvets, woks – and good taste!” is the headline in The Mail on Sunday.

The Sunday Express has gone with: “The style guru who stood up for our sitting rooms.”

Separately The Sunday Times reports a sharp increase in the number of pet parrots being given up for adoption.

It is thought the rise in home working may be to blame for the trend.

It quotes a charity which rehomes unwanted birds as saying: “It is a bit problematic if you are trying to do a Zoom call and there is a parrot in the background squawking.”

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