Both The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail run with “Starmer caves in” as the headline on their lead stories – reporting on the prime minister’s climbdown in the face of a major rebellion over welfare cuts. The Telegraph also reports that the UK is “in talks” with France to return migrants coming across the Channel in what it calls a “one in, one out” deal. A large photo of Dame Anna Wintour accompanies the news that she is “no longer in Vogue” as the Telegraph reports that the editor-in-chief of the magazine “is stepping back”.
Alongside its coverage of welfare cuts, the Damily Mail also has a story it says is “a plot twist worthy of John le Carré”, claiming the new head of MI6 Blaise Metreweli is the grandaughter of “a Nazi spy chief”. In a statement, a Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesman told the paper: “Blaise Metreweli neither knew nor met her paternal grandfather.”
The Guardian quotes leading MPs who tell them “massive concessions” will be made by Sir Keir Starmer on the welfare bill. The “major U-turn” came during a “tense day of talks with Downing Street”. Also on its front page, a new NHS survey shows one in four young adults now have a common health condition and young women are “nearly three times more likely to report them than young men”.
The Times writes that the PM has pledged “protections for disabled to rescue bill” in a “move that will cost the Treasury £1.5bn”. The amendment “may require a tax hike”. The paper also reports that Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron are “working on a deal” on migrant returns that “could be announced as soon as next week”.
Starmer “yields to avert Labour ‘civil war’ over cuts to welfare” the Financial Times headlines today. The welfare cuts are the “biggest crisis of his first year in office”. Former Barclays boss Jes Staley is splashed in a large photo across the front, as he has “failed to overturn a decision by the Financial Conduct Authority that he had ‘recklessly’ misled the regulator on his ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.”
“Keir not faring too well” writes Metro, as it reports on Starmer’s talks with Labour MPs over “crunch vote seen as test of his authority”. Nigel Farage “would have most seats if election was held tomorrow” it adds.
There’s “new hope on Pips” writes the Daily Mirror, saying the PM was “last night close to striking a deal with Labour rebels”. The Mirror also features a story on racing commentator John Hunt, whose wife and two daughters were murdered last July. In an exclusive interview with the , Mr Hunt said: “I speak to them every day, they’re always close.”
Former presenter and journalist Dame Esther Rantzen’s daughter “blasts ‘repulsive’ fake images” of her mother’s battle with cancer. “How dare you suggest she is on her death bed!” reads the headline on the front page of the Daily Express.
“Killer back stalking Cheryl” says The Sun after Daniel Bannister turned up at the singer’s house “flouting a restraining order.”
“Boffins hope to create artificial human parts to tackle disease” writes the Daily Star. Meanwhile, “experts fear we could end up with hybrid creatures”. “It’s alive!” the Star headlines.
