The Papers. Newspaper headlines: Theresa May - should she stay or go?

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Speculation about the prime minister's future dominates most of Friday's front pages.

Under the headline All We Want For Christmas Is A New PM, the Daily Mirror quotes one MP as saying Theresa May is "like a pet waiting to be put down".
A former Cabinet minister tells the i: 'It's not terminal yet, but she is in intensive care", while former cabinet minister David Mellor tells The Daily Telegraph Mrs May is a "dead woman walking".
Home Secretary Amber Rudd writes in the same paper that Mrs May should remain as leader at what she calls "a turning point for the nation". The Times says government whips will canvass Tory MPs over the weekend.
 

The Financial Times reports that Chancellor Philip Hammond is facing a "bloodbath" in the public finances in next month's Budget, because official growth forecasts have been too optimistic.
The Office for Budget Responsibility is said to have overestimated productivity for the past seven years - meaning much of the £26bn set aside to help the economy through Brexit could be "wiped out".
The Sun seizes on the "bloodbath" theme, employing the headline "Hamma Horror". It says the warning "will stoke fears the chancellor will be forced to push through stinging tax rises".

The papers are divided in their opinion of the investigation into allegations against Sir Edward Heath.
The Guardian believes the police have a duty to examine any potential abuse of power and the Daily Express agrees that "it can deliver closure for victims and help them access compensation", even if the supposed perpetrator is dead.
But a leading criminologist brought on to the case last year writes in The Times that it was a shambles, based on "a catalogue of fabrication".
The paper's editorial says it's hard to argue with claims the Wiltshire force was "appealing to fantasists and attention-seekers".

Boris Becker's financial woes are detailed on the front of The Times. It says the former tennis champion borrowed £2m from John Caudwell, the billionaire co-founder of Phones 4U, after he was warned that he could be jailed as his debts reached £50m.
The money, it says, "enabled him to juggle the demands of banks, an ex-wife and lover and business partners while maintaining his jet-set lifestyle".

Image copyright PA

Image caption Jamie Oliver's specially designed Land Rover has a host of cooking features including a slow-cooker, barbecue, and olive oil dispenser

The Daily Mail reveals how Jamie Oliver has paid £100,000 to turn his Land Rover into a mobile kitchen.
The custom-built car, it says, features a rotisserie, pasta maker, slow cooker, wheel-mounted butter and ice cream churners and a toaster wedged between the front seats.
And the Sun features a landlord in Bristol who may have been inspired by Alan Bennett, by advertising for a tenant to live in a van parked on his street.
The vehicle is described as having "all the facilities for winter living" including a wood burner, oven and double bed - but the paper says it is untaxed and could be towed away.

Originally published on http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-the-papers-41520152