Tuesday 11 June 2019

11 June 2019 - Newspaper headlines: Gove goads Boris and the BBC faces 'backlash'

After the revelations of Michael Gove's drug use, the Guardian says he has "come out fighting" to "claw his way back into the race" to be the next prime minister.

Front page of the Metro
Image captionThe Metro is among the papers to lead on the Conservative leadership contest and the ongoing controversy surrounding Michael Gove's past drug use. Its headline "Gove goads Boris" is a reference to his apparent verbal swipe at Boris Johnson, as the Tory leadership campaign officially begins.
Front page of the Financial Times
Image captionThree pithy sub-headlines on the front page of the Financial Times sum up the current state of the race - suggesting Mr Johnson "remains frontrunner", Jeremy Hunt's campaign is gaining "momentum" and Mr Gove is "on the attack".
Front page of the Daily Telegraph
Image captionThe Daily Telegraph says Michael Gove's "personal attack" on Boris Johnson is an act of "desperation". It says Mr Gove's chances of becoming leader of the Tory party are fading away as Jeremy Hunt overtakes him as the biggest potential rival to Mr Johnson.
Front page of the Guardian
Image captionThe Guardian says Mr Gove is trying to "claw his way" back in to the race - after his campaign was "blown off course" at the weekend after revelations about cocaine use in the 1990s. It says Mr Gove pledged to govern for "overlooked families and undervalued communities" before he launched a series of "personal attacks" on Mr Johnson.
Front page of the Sun
Image captionThe Sun takes the opportunity to get a drug-related pun on its front page, as it says Mr Gove "now tries crack" - with an asterisk explaining it means a "cheeky joke" he made about Mr Johnson's sex life. The paper explains that Mr Gove urged his rival "whatever you do, don't pull out" of the leadership contest.
Front page of the Times
Image captionThe Times focuses on policies rather than personalities in its front page coverage, detailing what it calls Mr Johnson's plans of "tax cuts for the rich". It says the announcement led to the "first proper skirmish" of the contest, with him facing accusations that he was allowing the Tories to be portrayed as the "party of privilege".
Front page of the Daily Mail
Image caption"Backlash over BBC betrayal of the elderly" reads the front page of the Daily Mail. It is among the papers to lead on the BBC's decision to allow only those over-75s in low-income households, where one person receives the pension credit benefit, to be eligible for free TV licences.
Front page of the i
Image captionThe i reports an "outcry" over the decision that it says will mean "two-thirds" of over-75s will now have to pay. Its front page does include a line of response from the BBC, which says the alternative would have been the closure of major services.
Front page of the Daily Express
Image captionThe Daily Express front page leads with a call for its readers to sign a petition opposing the BBC's changes to the TV licence fee. The paper says the move is a "kick in the teeth for millions of pensioners".
Front page of the Mirror
Image captionThe Daily Mirror headline spells it out in numbers, claiming that "3.7m OAPs lose free TV licences". But alone among the papers, it suggests that anger is being aimed at the government because the Conservatives made a pledge in the 2017 election that the free TV licences for over-75s would be retained.
Front page of the Daily Star
Image captionIn other news, the Daily Star leads on reports of Olympic hockey gold medallist Sam Quek being "trolled" on Twitter for saying the BBC's Women's World Cup panel were beautiful.
After the revelations of Michael Gove's drug use, the Guardian says he has "come out fighting" to "claw his way back into the race" to be the next prime minister.
It says he made "a series of personal attacks on the front-runner, Boris Johnson", highlighting a "bitter rivalry" dating back to the previous Tory leadership contest.
The Sun accuses Mr Gove of "taking the Michael" by appearing to mock the former foreign secretary's "tangled love life" by urging his rival "whatever you do, don't pull out".
Michael Deacon, for the Daily Telegraph, believes that tackling Brexit and uniting the country will be easy, compared with the task of bringing Gove and Johnson back together.
Michael Gove and Boris JohnsonImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionMichael Gove has been deemed "desperate" for his "personal attacks" against rival Boris Johnson
The former Conservative leader, Iain Duncan Smith, explains in the same paperwhy he believes Boris Johnson is the "right person" to deliver Brexit by the end of October.
He says too many of the other candidates regard that as damaging, which would make them "frightened negotiators" and mean they lacked the leadership and "mood of optimism" that the party needs.
Jeremy Corbyn is said to have been accused by his backbenchers of lacking leadership on Brexit at what's said to have been a "fiery" and "bad-tempered" meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party.
Politics Home says close ally Marie Rimmer warned that even loyal supporters were "turning away" because of his failure to listen to them.
It says he also came under attack for the party's response to anti-semitism and sexual harassment of women - with one MP describing it as "the worst PLP meeting he had ever attended".
Huffpost UK says Marie Rimmer's remarks were greeted with "cheers and whistles". It adds that Mr Corbyn has agreed to "evolve" his position on Brexit, which is due to be discussed by the shadow cabinet today.
The Financial Times says the financial watchdog, the FCA, is being urged to reform the system of "best buy" investment funds following the collapse of Neil Woodford's Equity Income Fund.
It says the leading brokers Hargreaves Lansdown had promoted Woodford Equity to its customers, partly after securing a discount on fees.
The Daily Mail reports that Mr Woodford could be fired from running another of his funds "amid investor fears that he has lost his golden touch".
Shares in the Woodford Patient Capital Trust have plunged more than 20%.
The Sun reveals plans to revive the brand famous for unleashing Party Seven tins of bitter on the 1970s - a beer so bland, it says, that it disappeared within a decade.
Watney's has been reinvented as a craft ale and a crowdfunding appeal has been launched to put it back on supermarket shelves.
https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-the-papers-48589919