Newspaper headlines: 'PM faces rebellion' and Houthis hit US cargo ship

  • Author, ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ News
  • Role, Staff

Image source, Conservative Party

Image caption, Conservative Party deputy chairman Lee Anderson is among the MPs threatening to withhold his support for the prime minister's Rwanda bill

A number of the papers lead on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's attempts to get his Rwanda Bill through Parliament. The proposed legislation would declare Rwanda a safe country and allow the deportation of the UK's asylum seekers there to go ahead.

The says two of the Conservative Party's deputy chairmen, Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarke-Smith, have said they will rebel over parts of the bill and that they have signed amendments to toughen the legislation. The paper calls it a "direct challenge" to Mr Sunak's authority and says the pair are "effectively challenging the prime minister to sack them from their party posts". It adds that at least five former cabinet members are prepared to vote down the legislation.

The and both lead on a declaration from Mr Sunak that he will "defy Euro judges" if they try to block flights to Rwanda. The Mail says it's the first time he's said this publicly and that he wants to end the "legal merry-go-round" that has prevented flights taking off. The Express says he faces a "turbulent" 48 hours trying to secure Tory support for his bill.

The adds that the prime minister is trying to stave off a revolt by promising to secure more judges and court time to speed up legal appeals against deportation that are allowed by the Rwanda Bill. The paper says it's an attempt to assuage concerns that the courts would be so clogged with cases it would render the scheme useless.

There's a different angle on the Rwanda row in , which reports that 47 asylum seekers who were supposed to be on the first deportation flight to Rwanda are still living in hotels 18 months later. It describes them as having been "left in legal limbo". ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Office officials have said there is no binding time limit and the government may seek to remove them for a second time.

Image source, Reuters

Image caption, Royal insiders are said to be 'quietly celebrating' after a new book reported that the late Queen Elizabeth was angry that the Sussexes used her nickname, Lilibet, for their daughter

The leads with a claim that the government could save Β£20bn a year with better IT systems, project management, and fraud prevention. The head of the National Audit office, Gareth Davies, tells the paper the state has "out-of-date" technology, crumbling infrastructure, and a "governance problem" when overseeing large projects such as HS2. He describes a "host of opportunities" to save money at a time of constraint for public finances.

Another Houthi attack on a cargo ship is the top story for the . It says the strike on a US-owned vessel in the Gulf of Aden has widened the theatre of war in the Middle East beyond the Red Sea. The paper reports the level of shipping on the route has "dropped markedly" since the US and UK missile strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen. The Guardian says the Houthi action raises questions about whether the US-UK alliance will have to mount further attacks.

And the puts a "royal row" about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's daughter on its front page. It reports that Royal insiders are "quietly celebrating" that a new book reveals Queen Elizabeth's anger at the couple using her nickname, Lilibet, for their daughter. The Sussexes' claim they sought her permission but the Queen is alleged to have said: "The only thing I own is my name... and now they've taken that." The book, by Robert Hardman, also gets a mention in the , which reveals the new queen, Camilla, has the family nickname "Lorraine". It explains it's a play on the French word for queen - La Reine.

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