Today’s news summary – Paper Talk
Sunday’s front pages lead with a few different stories, the most popular being UK politics. From Partygate to Tory infighting, the UK government are once again the main story for the papers. Away from politics, Prince William tells of his plans to build social housing on his royal estate in a bid to end homelessness. The prince opens up about being inspired to continue his late mother, Princess Diana’s work. Separately, several papers feature a newly released image of William and his children to mark Father’s Day.
Partygate and politics
The Sunday Mirror leads with a bombshell story. The paper features a still image taken from what it says shows a Tory staff party during lockdown. It says the footage “throws new light on the affair” and raises the prospect of a second police investigation into what it describes as “lockdown-busting parties that shamed the government”.
Police are under pressure to investigate Tory MP Bernard Jenkin, says the Mail on Sunday. The MP was on the Privileges Committee investigating Boris Johnson. The paper says there are allegations that he attended a separate event during lockdown. An ally of Johnson tells the paper that this “invalidates the findings” of the Partygate investigation, claiming it has been “corrupted”.
The Observer uses its front page to discuss the ongoing friction within the Tory party. The paper claims PM Rishi Sunak views former prime minister Boris Johnson as “irrelevant” with one senior source describing him as “just an ex-MP.” The paper says Sunak hopes to contrast what it calls Johnson’s “rule-breaking and chaos” with “the more studious and thorough style” of Sunak. But the Mail on Sunday quotes a Johnson ally as saying he will not launch a “jihad” against the PM because he wants the Tories to win the next election.
The Sunday Express reports that some Tory MPs are urging others to stop the in-fighting and focus on inflation. One minister tells the paper that “people are sick” of the Tory “psychodrama”.
The Sunday Telegraph claims to have seen what it calls the “damning findings” of the inquiry into Sue Gray – who compiled the report on Partygate. The paper says she has been found to have breached Whitehall impartiality rules for holding talks with Labour before she was offered the chief of staff job to Sir Keir Starmer.
Away from politics, Prince William tells the Sunday Times he will establish social housing on his Duchy of Cornwall estate, in an attempt to “end homelessness”. He says that homelessness has for too long been “managed” rather than “prevented”, and claims this challenge “is not insurmountable”. The paper says William was inspired by the work of his late mother Princess Diana, who took him on visits to homeless shelters as a child.