What the papers say – February 18

Headlines on Tuesday’s front pages include the TV licence fee, the late Caroline Flack and the weather.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is at odds with his senior Downing Street advisers, including Dominic Cummings, over plans to scrap the BBC licence fee and replace it with a voluntary subscription system, The Times reports.

Britain faces a “national emergency” as flooding damage worsens, a top expert warns, according to the Daily Mirror, in a story also carried by the i and The Independent.

And the Daily Mail says savers have been dealt a “fresh blow” as
National Savings has “slashed rates to rock-bottom levels and cut its prizes”.

A controversial adviser to Mr Johnson has resigned after MPs attacked No 10 for refusing to condemn his claims that intelligence is linked to race, The Guardian reports in a story also covered by Metro.

The Daily Telegraph leads with a trade leader saying Brexit is an opportunity for “economic competition” that should benefit everyone in Europe, while the Financial Times covers the legal implications of the UK leaving the bloc.

The Daily Express reports on the Queen’s “sorrow” at the latest royal divorce.

The Sun says Flack’s team have branded the Crown Prosecution Service ‘cruel’ for pursuing her through the courts.

And the Daily Star has a story saying NASA wants to build a nuclear-powered spaceship to meet aliens 25 trillion miles away.