What the papers say – April 24

Sunday’s front pages report the Prime Minister is clinging defiantly to power despite the “whirlwind” damage he is doing to the Conservatives ahead of local elections.

The Observer and the Sunday Express carry the latest in the partygate furore that has engulfed Boris Johnson, with the latter saying the “defiant” and “bullish” PM has launched a “full-throttled defence of his premiership”.

Sunday People focuses on Mr Johnson’s fellow embattled Tory, Rishi Sunak. The paper reports the Chancellor is set to “splash out up to £13,000 a year” to heat his new swimming pool, which is six-and-a-half times the average energy bill for a family home.

The Sunday Telegraph writes the Home Secretary has accused the BBC of “xenophobia” over the Government’s controversial Rwanda refugee deal, with Priti Patel said to claim the broadcaster’s coverage had “undercurrents” of racism towards the African country.

“P&O scandal sinks to new low,” declares the Sunday Mirror, reporting the ferry operator has been accused of trying to cut the wages of its new low-paid foreign crew.

Elsewhere, The Independent focuses on the war in Ukraine, writing that the country’s defiance against Russia will “shape modern history forever”.

And the Daily Star Sunday splashes with a story about a woman who claims she is terrified to leave the house in case she gets abducted by her “alien visitor stalkers”.