What the papers say – October 3

Political fireworks in Birmingham make headlines on Wednesday after Boris Johnson addressed the Tory faithful ahead of Theresa May’s big speech to the Conservative Party conference.

The Daily Mail says Mr Johnson’s intervention, in which he branded the Prime Minister’s Brexit blueprint an “outrage” and accused her of cheating the electorate, amounted to a public audition for her job.

Mrs May hit back at the former foreign secretary, saying his proposals for a Canada-style arrangement would “tear up” the UK, the i reports.

The PM will use her closing speech today to reaffirm her belief that Britain’s “best days lie ahead”, the Daily Express reports.

She will say the future is “full of promise” and appeal to her party to “seize the moment of opportunity”, The Times says.

Mrs May will also declare that the Tories can represent “decent, moderate and patriotic” Britons, The Guardian says.

The speech is titled ‘The Future Is In Our Hands’, according to the Metro.

As for her own future, Mrs May is under pressure to set out a timetable for when she will step down, the Daily Telegraph reports.

She faces a struggle to reassert her authority with the speech, The Independent says.

In other conference news, the PM will announce a further freeze in fuel duty, The Sun says.

Elsewhere, a student Conservative society has been criticised over a university night out, the Daily Mirror reports.

A university has banned clapping to prevent stress, according to the Daily Star.

And the Financial Times leads with Amazon raising its minimum wage for workers in the US and UK.