A wider mix of stories pepper Wednesday’s front pages but the Daily Telegraph continues to cover the fallout of the story it broke last week. It leads with a picture of what it calls a “defiant” Tim Davie after the outgoing director general defended the broadcaster during his first address to staff following his resignation. The paper reports that Davie called the “the very best of society” and blamed “enemies” of the corporation for stoking allegations of bias.
“We must fight for our journalism” is the Independent’s headline as it reports on Davie’s rallying speech to staff. The director general admitted the broadcaster made “mistakes that have cost us”, but warned about the “weaponisation” of criticisms of organisation, the paper says. Also front and centre is a photo of Catherine leading tributes to fallen heroes on Armistice Day. The Princess of Wales is seen wearing a wide-brimmed hat adored with a black bow and two poppies pinned on her lapel.
Catherine’s all-black ensemble for Armistice Day also claims the top picture slot in the Guardian. Alongside, the paper shifts its focus to fears of a leadership challenge at No 10. It reports that Downing Street has moved to protect Sir Keir Starmer from possible attempts to oust him after the Budget later this month, based on the party’s tanking numbers in the opinion polls. Senior political aides have warned any leadership challenge would be “reckless” and “dangerous”, the Guardian says.
“Starmer vows to defend leadership from ‘feral’ Labour MPs” is the Times’ take. The paper cites allies of the prime minister who say he will not resign and will contest any leadership race prompted by his MPs. Elsewhere, new figures show universal credit claimants have jumped by 50%, with one million more people claiming Britain’s main out-of-work benefit than a year ago.
That figure means four million people are claiming benefits without having to look for work, the Daily Express says. The paper quotes Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch who accuses the PM of being “too weak” to tackle the welfare crisis.
In more turmoil for the Labour government, the Daily Mail says “1,000 jobs a day” are being lost under Chancellor Rachel Reeves. The paper reports that Reeves is being blamed for triggering a “jobs bloodbath” as the overall unemployment rate hit 5% for the first time since the Covid pandemic. The Mail dubs it “another day in Starmer’s socialist paradise”.
“Unemployment increase deals fresh blow to Reeves” echoes the Financial Times. The rise in jobless rates means payroll employment has fallen by 180,000 since the chancellor announced higher employer national insurance rates in last year’s Budget, the paper reports.
In other news, the i Paper signals “fresh hope” for women affected by changes to the state pension age. The paper says the government is reconsidering a previous decision to reject compensation those caught up in the scheme, with campaigners from Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) hailing the move as a “major step forward”.
Metro splashes on the story of a “£5bn crypto queen jailed”. A woman, said by police to have bought cryptocurrency now worth billions of pounds using funds stolen from thousands of Chinese pensioners, has been sentenced to more than 11 years in jail.
A “shake up” to the hit ITV show I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! provides the lead for the Sun as it gears up for a new season. The paper reports that new rules will see contestants take on only two bushtucker trials in a row before being exempt from the public vote. Its story explains that this move will foil the almost-annual tradition in which viewers “gang up” on a particular celebrity and vote for them to do the gruesome challenges night after night.
“Jungle Commando” headlines the Daily Star’s coverage of the new series as it reveals that one of the contestants, YouTube sensation Morgan Burtwistle, better known as Angry Ginge, has forgotten to pack any underwear for his trip to Australia. That means he will be wearing “No pants & kecks Down Under”.
Finally, the Daily Mirror reports that the mother of murdered teenager Harvey Willgoose says she would like to meet her son’s killer. The paper features Harvey’s mum Caroline saying: “At the end of the day, both of them have been let down.”
