Today’s news summary – Paper Talk
Tuesday’s front pages focus on the penultimate round of voting in the Tory leadership race. This round will see the remaining four candidates be whittled down to three. The results are expected to be announced at 15:00 BST. The second main story dominating the papers’ this morning is the heatwave sweeping Britain – today is expected to be the hottest day on record with temperatures hitting 41C.
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Tory leadership race
The Times looks at yesterday’s results and concludes the race has been “thrown wide open” after Kemi Badenoch and Liz Truss gained votes, whilst Penny Mordaunt lost one vote.
The contest will “culminate in a clash between Mordaunt and Truss for second place” and a major factor will be who Ms Badenoch’s supporters gravitate towards if she is eliminated.
The Daily Telegraph agrees, stating in its headline that Ms Badenich is “poised to be kingmaker” as the contest reaches its crucial stages.
“Can Truss turn up heat to battle Rishi in run-off?” is the headline on the front page of the Daily Express. The paper claims Liz Truss is now “gaining momentum” after scoring 71 votes yesterday – up on the previous round.
Heatwave UK
Today’s papers also splash on the heatwave gripping the UK.
The Sun declares “Britain is melting” – it features a picture of a guardsman outside Buckingham Palace sweating under a bearskin hat. The Daily Star features a similar image with a guardsman being given a drink of water. The headline reads: “And you thought YOU were having a bad day?”
“Blowtorch Britain” is how the Daily Mirror sums up the situation. The paper says temperatures could hit 43C, something it describes as a “record baker.”
The Daily Mail of course condemns “snowflake Britain” for “panicking” over the heatwave. Its leader column asks: Whatever happened to keep calm and carry on?”
The Guardian features a collection of photos of people dealing with the heatwave in different ways. The paper turns the focus to politics as it reports the PM has been accused of “checking out” after missing Cobra meetings about the heatwave.
The Independent shifts its focus to a High Court judge’s ruling yesterday that said the government failed to spell out adequately how it could achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The campaigners who brought the case said the finding suggested the strategy was “illegal and inadequate”. But the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is quoted saying: “The judge made no criticism about the substance of our plans, which are well on track”.
