What the papers say – February 17

The European Union threatening tough trade negotiations, Caroline Flack’s death and Storm Dennis dominate the headlines on Monday’s front pages.

France’s foreign minister says Britain and the EU will “rip each other apart” in bitter Brexit trade talks, the Daily Express reports, in a story also carried by The Times.

Metro leads with a picture of Caroline Flack and her “devastated” boyfriend Lewis Burton. The Sun says Flack was “driven to suicide by fears over her court case”, the Daily Mirror reports an emergency services crew checked on her the day before her death, while the Daily Mail says she feared a “show trial”.

The Daily Star also covers the Caroline Flack story, reporting her heartbroken boyfriend has vowed to “get all the answers”.

Meanwhile, a doctor who worked at the same private healthcare firm as the rogue breast surgeon Ian Paterson has been accused of subjecting scores of patients to unnecessary operations, according to The Guardian.

Hundreds of people had to be rescued and there were major disruptions to travel due to Storm Dennis, according to the i, in a story also covered by The Independent.

The Daily Telegraph leads with a story saying dementia sufferers are ending up dumped in Accident and Emergency departments following the closures of day centres for patients.

And the boss of SoftBank’s Vision Fund is pushing equities, the Financial Times reports.