Tag: Ricky Tomlinson

The debate about whether Jeremy Corbyn called the prime minister a "stupid woman" or said "stupid people" in the Commons yesterday continues on most of the front pages. The Daily Mail and the Daily Express enlist the help of lip-reading specialists who each deliver the same damning verdict. Mr Corbyn's "forward lip movement", they claim, could only have been the result of pronouncing a word beginning with the letter "W" - casting doubt on what the Mail calls his "brazen" denials. "Panto politics" is the headline on the front page of the i, which says the drama will have led to consternation among the public, coming at a time when Parliament is faced with one of the biggest decisions on the fate of the country since World War Two. The Daily Telegraph notes that the row occupied more parliamentary time than Prime Minister's Questions and laments that it overshadowed the long-awaited publication of the government's Immigration White Paper, a key part of its post-Brexit planning. "A pipsqueak opposition leader, a stubborn prime minister, a paralysed government and an unruly parliament are overseeing the most momentous decision in recent British history. The Sun criticises the EU's proposals for a structured no-deal Brexit as a "barrage of punitive threats" issued to British tourists, ex-pats and businesses. "All trust is gone," says the paper, concluding that we must be ready for Brexit on March 29th without a deal. HuffPost UK says it has obtained data which shows the government has spent £1.4 billion outsourcing contracts linked to the roll out of Universal Credit and other welfare reforms, since 2012. The Times reports that The British Institute of Verbatim Reporters has listed the words that floored a good many of us in 2018.