The front page of the Guardian features an image of Amie Gray, who was murdered in an attack on Bournemouth beach earlier this year. “Senseless attack” is the accompanying headline, quoting a senior crown prosecutor, who said both Amie and Leanne Miles, who was seriously injured by the same man, Nasen Saadi, had been “chosen at random” by him.
The Daily Mail leads on an investigation that has been launched in Bangladesh into Labour MP Tulip Siddiq and members of her family and whether they took bribes of up to £4bn. The country’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) says Siddiq, her mother and her aunt, former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, are being looked at in connection with alleged embezzlement linked to a nuclear power plant deal. Siddiq has declined to comment, while a family friend and member of Sheikh Hasina’s party said “these stories are fabricated”.
Metro leads on the jailing of 19-year-old Thomas Johnson, who was filmed inhaling laughing gas while driving before a high-speed crash that killed three of his friends. The paper carries statements from the families of the three young men who died, one of which included a warning to other young people to not “be that driver who shows such disregard for their friends’ lives”.
“Pensions protest grows for Starmer after ‘betrayal’ of Waspi women” reads the main headline on the front page of the i newspaper. It says Labour MPs have warned the prime minister, who has denied misleading campaigners over the likelihood of compensation, that they are ready to defy the government over its decision.
“ECHR lets heroin kingpin stay in UK” states the Telegraph, which reports on a decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) not to deport what the paper calls a “Turkish crime boss said to be one of Britain’s biggest drug dealers” back to Turkey as it would breach his human rights. The paper says the case will reignite calls for the UK to leave or reform the ECHR. It also features an image of actress and model Cara Delevingne, who portrays Sir Elton John in a new music video.
A suggestion that UK soldiers could be sent to Ukraine to help with training is the main article on the front page of the Times. It says Defence Secretary John Healey has “left the door open” about where such training could take place. “We will look wherever we can to respond to what the Ukrainians want,” Healey is quoted as saying.
The Financial Times looks at concerns over “stagflation” – a combination of inflation and a stagnating economy – and how this is affecting the UK bond market. Mark Dowding, from RBC BlueBay Asset Management, says that if government bond yields continue to rise, then Chancellor Rachel Reeves could be forced “to raise taxes or cut spending in order to allay concerns relating to debt sustainability”. The paper also features an image of Donald Trump, whom it has named as its Person of the Year.
The Daily Express carries a photograph of King Charles with his brother, the Duke of York, with the headline “Prince Andrew frozen out of Royal Xmas lunch”. It looks at how the duke has now pulled out of the royal family’s pre-Christmas lunch after, the paper says, being persuaded by his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson that it was “unwise to attend”. It comes days after he bowed out of attending the annual Christmas Day celebrations at Sandringham.
The Mirror leads on an interview with former English footballer turned commentator Chris Kamara, who in 2022 was diagnosed with the speech condition apraxia. He has now revealed he will return to punditry on Boxing Day as part of Amazon Prime Video’s coverage and says that while his condition has made it harder to be spontaneous as he used to be, he’s “going to try and wheel it out”.
King Charles also graces the front page of the Daily Star but this time atop a UFO. The Star says a “100% legit aliens boffin has begged King Charles to speak up for all humankind” when aliens come visiting. The boffin is British filmmaker Mark Christopher Lee, who has told the paper that he thinks extraterrestrials will be in touch with planet Earth in the next 12-18 months and that we will need “world leaders of calibre” to represent us.
