In today’s briefing update, we look at the differing take on the no-deal Brexit negotiations – as the cabinet backs the PM.

The secondary story featured on many front pages says the Queen will be vaccinated within weeks and will make it public to help combat misinformation. 

In our special feature, we look at the crucial US senate race. 

We also take a lot at the latest Covid-19 cases and global updates. 

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Military planes to fly vaccines in to avoid ports hit by Brexit

The Observer’s top story says the government is working on contingency plans to fly tens of millions of doses of the coronavirus vaccine from Belgium to the UK via military aircraft to avoid Brexit-related delays at ports. The paper quotes the Department of Health and Social Care and senior sources at the Ministry of Defence who, it says, have confirmed that large consignments of the vaccine would be brought to the UK from 1 January by air – if road, rail and sea routes were hit by “widely expected delays” after that date. The news comes as Brexit talks are set to resume in Brussels on Sunday, with the paper reporting hopes that a trade deal “will be struck in the next few days”. – Guardian

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The final throw of the dice

The Daily Telegraph’s splash reports that Boris Johnson will give a Brexit trade deal a “final throw of the dice” after his hour-long phone call with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday failed to break the deadlocked negotiations. Mr Johnson has told his Brexit negotiator Lord Frost to head to Brussels for 48 hours of “intensive” talks with Michel Barner, which the paper calls a “last-ditch bid” to secure a trade deal by 31 December. – Daily Telegraph

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Final throw of the dice

The Sunday Express also leads on the “final throw of the dice” warning, as it reports that Britain and the EU have until Sunday night to reach a trade deal or accept there will be no deal. The paper says the time frame was set by Mr Johnson during a “dramatic” phone call with Mrs von der Leyen. – Daily Express

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Cabinet backs Johnson over no-deal Brexit

A senior No 10 source has told the Sunday Times that the chances of a Brexit trade deal between the UK and the EU were now “‘no better than 50-50’ after more than four years and five months of talks”. The paper says that if no further progress is made, the PM’s team is talking about plans for him to announce no-deal in a televised address to the nation, in which he will place the blame on the EU and “French intransigence”. – Times

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The Queen ‘will get vaccine within weeks’ 

The Queen is set to receive the vaccine “within weeks” and will publicly reveal she has had it to boost take-up of the jab, according to the Mail on Sunday’s splash. The paper cites senior sources who insist the monarch and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, 99, will not get “preferential treatment” and will “wait in line” during the first wave of injections set aside for the over-80s and care home residents. Public health experts are said to believe that if the royal couple reveal they have had the jab, it could help to combat misinformation, which it is feared, could lead to a “substantial proportion” of the population refusing a vaccine. – Daily Mail