Newspaper headlines: Takeaway container tax and jungle rescue

  • Published

The Daily Telegraph claims Europe is threatening to keep back Britain's final rebate payment - won by Margaret Thatcher - as horse-trading continues over the Brexit divorce bill.

British sources have told the paper that negotiators have still not agreed whether the UK will receive the 5bn euro payment as part of the final settlement.

The paper describes the rebate as a "key irritant" between the two sides.

It says the EU has still not provided clarity on the issue, even though it was raised in the opening round of Brexit negotiations last summer.

YouTube videos

The Times says companies including Iceland, O2 and Which? have suspended advertising on YouTube, after an investigation by the paper showed their brands were appearing before video clips that exploited young children and appealed to paedophiles.

According to the paper, YouTube's owner, Google, has made millions of pounds in advertising revenue from the videos.

The paper's editorial says YouTube must be "far tougher" on exploitative content.

Writing on the Conservative Home website, the Tory MP for Cheltenham, Alex Chalk, agrees.

Arguing it is "baloney" for social media companies to claim they should not be held accountable for what appears on their platforms, he says his cross-party inquiry into cyber-bullying has revealed "tortuous" progress in trying to tackle the issue.

He says firms must be "far more robust" in enforcing community guidelines and calls for greater sanctions against offenders.

Parents, he writes, "should demand more".

The Guardian highlights what it describes as a "groundbreaking" process to deal with cases in which one divorcing parent tries to turn their children against the other.

It reports that the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service - Cafcass - is carrying out a trial which could see divorcing parents being denied contact with their children, if they encourage parental alienation.

The paper says UK judges believe the phenomenon is present in up to 15% of divorces involving children.

A Budget miracle?

With just days to go, the political editor of the Spectator, James Forsyth, thinks it will be "almost miraculous" if the Budget does not go wrong.

He cites a lack of money; a lack of trust between the prime minister and the chancellor; Philip Hammond's "troubled relationship" with Conservative backbenchers; and the Tories' "great strategic confusion" over the deficit as reasons for his pessimism.

But what will really be missing, he argues, is a vision for the economy after Brexit.

Until the government has this, "every drama will turn into a crisis", he adds.

With the headline "Rescued!" the Daily Mail claims it was responsible for saving the British explorer who was missing in a remote area of Papua New Guinea.

The paper says it hired a helicopter "following tip-offs from tribal chiefs" and found Benedict Allen "weak from malaria" and "caught between warring tribes" deep in the jungle.

According to the Guardian, friends of Mr Allen have rejected claims that he was self-indulgent to take a solo trip without tracking devices.

The paper says he is "annoyed" by the worldwide publicity.