The Sun and Daily Mail are united in their desire to see Britain leave the EU but appear to be backing rival candidates in the Tory leadership race.
Today, in an article headlined “PM hopeful Michael Gove won the Brexit vote so must be in the race for Number 10”, the Sun’s former political editor, Trevor Kavanagh, said: “Without Michael Gove there would have been no Great Escape.
“Today we would be submitting like rounded-up fugitives to vindictive EU commandant Jean-Claude Juncker.”
Kavanagh went on to assert “…despite his cherubic choirboy appearance, Gove has the balls required to challenge the entrenched EU bureaucracy.”
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Kavanagh was echoing comments made by Sun owner Rupert Murdoch last week when he said leaving the EU was like a “prison break”.
Last week the Daily Mail made clear its desire to see Theresa May win the race to be Prime Minister.
Today the Daily Mail urged May to “offer cast-iron assurances that there will be no back-tracking on the referendum by a government led by her.
“In particular, she must take every opportunity to stress that if she wins she will veto any deal that denies us control of our borders or allows the EU to overrule Parliament or our courts.”
Most other papers are yet to favour a particular candidate.
The Financial Times has also published a leader which appeared to favour May: “As the dust settles on the referendum, she seems to have played the shrewdest hand of all. Her support for Remain during the campaign, while hardly vocal, commends her to the pro-Europeans. Her tough stance on immigration over the past six years means she will be supported by many on the Leave side.”
The London Evening Standard has said that Boris Johnson’s decision to withdraw from the race will make the contest “duller” but offers no alternative as to who should secure the party’s leadership.
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