Newspaper headlines: ‘Deadly’ new tower block risk
- Published
The fallout from the Grenfell Tower tragedy continues to occupy many of the front pages.
The Times says Kensington and Chelsea council has been "thrown into chaos" after the resignation of its leader Nicholas Paget-Brown and his deputy.
Britain's richest borough is now "rudderless", says the paper, "with hundreds of people still homeless."
The Sun says the men were forced to step aside after Number 10 "demanded their heads".
Sources tell the paper that Mr Paget-Brown was told by the London minister, Greg Hands, that the government had no confidence in him after his "catastrophically poor handling" of the disaster.
In its editorial, The Sun decries what it calls the "shameful behaviour" of the "rotten" council and says the time has come for it to be taken over by government commissioners.
The Mirror remarks that a "sneering" Mr Paget-Brown has "still failed to apologise" in the wake of the authorities' disastrous response to the tragedy.
In its editorial, the paper says Kensington and Chelsea has become "the most reviled borough in Britain for its callous mishandling of the survivors".
It too calls for the government to take over the running of the council.
The i says there is a "deadly" new tower block risk.
The paper reports that police have warned that insulation in tower blocks is just as flammable as the cladding that is thought to have contributed to the spread of the Grenfell Tower fire, in which at least 80 are believed to have died.
'Backbone of economy'
The Telegraph says business sources are warning Theresa May that she risks "crippling the economy" if The City of London is neglected in Brexit talks.
Senior figures have told the paper that financial services are "the backbone of the economy" and must be at the forefront of negotiations.
They fear the prime minister is prioritising other industries - such as manufacturing - which employ fewer people and raise less tax.
It would be "madness", the Telegraph argues, "for Britain to shoot itself in the foot because of popular ignorance about what the City does".
The Express has other concerns.
The paper says Brussels has issued what it calls an "outrageous" demand for "vast swathes" of Britain's post-Brexit rules to be decided by the European Court of Justice.
A spokesman for the Brexit department tells the paper that ending the court's direct jurisdiction over British laws is "a red line in the negotiations".
There is much speculation about the direction of Labour's strategy on Brexit, after the party's leader, Jeremy Corbyn, sacked three members of his front bench for voting in favour of keeping Britain in the single market and customs union.
The shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer has told the Mirror that the party plans to block a hard withdrawal from the EU.
He says the party will push for a "transition arrangement", which would extend the talks and avoid the "cliff edge" if a deal is not reached by the March 2019 deadline.
The Times reports on what it says is the first "care-home nursery" in Britain.
It says a nursery and home for the elderly are to be located on the same site in Clapham, in south-west London.
The move, says the paper, is designed to tackle the "age apartheid that increasingly keeps generations apart".
Thirty children a day will attend the nursery - with young and old taking part in activities together, including singing, cooking, gardening and story-telling.
The Sun reports on the extraordinary antics of Arnie the tortoise, who has been reunited with his owners two years after going missing.
The adventurous reptile was discovered wandering up the driveway of his owners' former home in Shropshire, even though he had never lived there.
The property was just a mile from his owners' current home, where the tortoise had been living.
Tortoises are known to have well-developed homing instincts.
But the Sun has a far simpler explanation for this remarkable feat - concluding that he must be "Shellapathic".
Murray injury anxiety
There is anxiety in many papers that Andy Murray's hip injury could thwart his Wimbledon ambitions.
But the Sun offers a possible solution ahead of his first match on Monday.
It asks readers to place their hands on an image of the player at precisely 15:40 BST on Saturday and send him all their positive energy.
The timing has a special significance, says the paper, as it matches the "coveted score" for a double break point.
