What the papers say – November 11

Stories about former attorney general Sir Geoffrey Cox feature on the front pages of many Thursday papers as the discussion around second jobs for MPs rages on.

The Daily Mail calls Sir Geoffrey the “MP with no shame”, saying the Torridge and West Devon representative earned more than £5.5 million from his work as a lawyer while in Parliament.

The Guardian puts this figure at £6 million and says Sir Geoffrey “skipped 12 recent votes on days when he was doing paid legal work”.

The i writes chief whip Mark Spencer is “in peril” after reportedly allowing Sir Geoffrey to work in the Caribbean instead of attending Parliament.

And the Daily Mirror leads on an exclusive in the “sleaze scandal”, reporting Sir Geoffrey “rakes in a fortune” letting out a “taxpayer-funded London home” and claiming for rent at another place, adding this is not in breach of Commons rules.

While Metro leads on comments made by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in response to questions about his handling of the sleaze controversy, the paper calling it “A bit of a Cop out” in a nod to his facing questions about it at the environmental summit in Glasgow.

Meghan’s apology for “unintentionally” misleading a court over her recollections of information given by her aides to authors of a biography leads The Daily Telegraph. Emails disclosed at the Court of Appeal showed the Duchess had provided briefing notes for an aide to give to the writers of Finding Freedom.

The Sun mocks up a front page featuring Meghan calling her Little Miss Forgetful and depicting her as one of the Little Miss characters.

And the Daily Express says the revelation was “explosive new evidence”.

Elsewhere, The Times leads on a new team at HMRC who have been tasked with recovering £1 billion in fraudulent and mistaken claims for furlough money. The paper adds hundreds of companies, set up after the scheme was announced, claimed up to £26.6 million.

The Financial Times writes about the US consumer prices index increasing at its fastest pace in three decades.

The Independent writes that Mr Johnson has been put under pressure to secure a “credible deal” at Cop26.

And the Daily Star says there is a trend for Britons giving up ales and preferring cocktails.