The Papers: ‘PM under pressure’ and ‘India at breaking point’on April 26, 2021 at 5:32 am

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Several front pages continue to focus on questions facing Boris Johnson over the renovation of his Downing Street flat.

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The i
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Daily Express front page
The Guardian
Daily Mail front page
Financial Times front page
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The Sun
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Several front pages continue to deal with the fallout from the claims made by the prime minister’s former chief adviser Dominic Cummings.

Undignified and unnecessary,” is how the Daily Mail describes the row between Boris Johnson and Mr Cummings. The paper says neither side emerges with any credit from this dispute of “claim and counterclaim”.

The Financial Times says the furore “may yet do serious damage” to Mr Johnson, because there are longstanding questions over his integrity and the government’s handling of the pandemic.

The i warns that this “civil war” risks doing untold damage to the prime minister because “rancour and division” rarely plays well with the public.

The Times reports that Britain’s most senior civil servant is still investigating Mr Cummings as part of the inquiry into who leaked the government’s plans for a second lockdown.

Despite Mr Cummings’ claims that he had been cleared, a Whitehall source is quoted as saying “no one has been exonerated”.

“The stench of sleaze surrounding Boris Johnson… is growing stronger everyday,” is the message from the Daily Mirror’s leader.

It says the public fall out between the prime minister and Mr Cummings is “doing us a favour by illuminating misrule”.

But the Daily Telegraph editorial says accusations of sleaze “are unlikely to stick”, because they come from a Labour Party “miles behind” in the polls.

Boris Johnson

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The Guardian reports that the government has “sparked anger” among bereaved families, after they learned that an inquiry into the UK’s handling of the pandemic will not start for months.

Lawyers representing thousands of relatives have been told an “inquiry now is not appropriate” because “the very people who would need to give evidence… are working round the clock”.

But with infections rates at their lowest level since September, bereaved families have accused the government of “procrastination”.

“Race to get aid to India,” is the Metro’s main story, as it focuses on the worsening numbers of coronavirus cases and deaths in the country.

The paper says the crisis is so bad, some crematoriums have run out of wood.

“Overwhelmed” and at “breaking point”, is how the Financial Times describes the situation, with patients dying queues as they wait to be seen.

The Daily Telegraph reports that some families have been forced to store their dead relatives at home because crematoriums have been overwhelmed. “There is no dignity in death here,” are the words of one man who lost his 65-year-old mother on Friday.

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Scientists say a Covid pill may have the potential to end repeated lockdowns. According to the Daily Mirror, trials are under way in Glasgow and London with the drug Favipiravir.

Experts hope it could become the first first antiviral treatment against mild Covid, with most global trials focussing on drugs that treat disease symptoms.

“Fantastic,” is how the Daily Express describes return of 8,000 supporters to Wembley for the Carabao Cup final between Manchester City and Tottenham.

The Daily Mail says in a season “characterised by its mind-numbing silence”, the atmosphere sounded like a crowd of 80,000.

The Sun points out that on a day when a semblance of normality returned, “what could be normal than City winning a trophy”? As they have now won seven out of the last 10 on offer in English domestic football.

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