The Sunday Express’ front page covers the Tory immigration pledge to deport 150,000 people a year, comparing it to the US’ ‘ICE force’. Calling it a “bold plan”, the Express writes the move would “remove all new illegal immigrants within a week”. Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick told the paper “we’ve been pussy-footing for too long as a country”.
The Sunday Telegraph also headlines on the Tory immigration announcement. Elsewhere on the Telegraph’s front page, “hundreds of protesters held after defying calls to honour Jewish lives” after supporters of proscribed group Palestine Action took to the streets after the Manchester synagogue attack.
The Observer is splashed with an image of Tony Blair sitting in a chair on plush carpet and doused in a soft yellow light, calling him “Tony of Arabia”. The former Labour prime minister has gone “from the Iraq War to the Gaza ‘Board of Peace’,” as he “returns to the Middle East”.
“We stand united” headlines the Sunday Mirror, with a snap of Manchester United footballers after “synagogue attack horror”. The team held a minute of silence for victims at Old Trafford, sending a “message of unity” after the killings of Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz.
The Mail headlines on former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner who it says is “taking us for a ride”. The tabloid lays claim to exclusive pictures that “show two close-protection officers helping Ms Ranyer’s on-off partner Sam Tarry move bags and boxes in a BMW X5 between their two homes”. A spokesman for Ms Rayner said the close-protection team had acted to minimise risk to her security.
“Three pads to free ride” headlines The Sun on Sunday, saying there is “new fury” as Rayner “uses taxpayer car for fella” while referencing her multiple homes. The politician “gets security to chauffeur lover and belongings”, it adds.
The Sunday Times goes with “China spy trial scrapped days after top-secret Whitehall talks” for its top story. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s national security adviser Jonathan Powell said Beijing wouldn’t be made out as an “enemy” of Britain during the trial, The Times reports. A Cabinet Office spokesman said the decision to drop charges was made by the Crown Prosecution Service “entirely independently of government”.
It is “party lines” for the Daily Star’s top story – which it underlines with photos of white powder – as it says there were “traces of cocaine found at Labour’s student shindig”. There were also “several big name MPs” who “graced the stage” at the event, it adds.
The Sunday Times claims that a Chinese spying case collapsed last month, days after Sir Keir Starmer’s national security advisor told senior officials that Beijing would not be deemed an “enemy” of Britain at the trial. The paper says the disclosure appears to explain why the director of public prosecutions blamed an “evidential failure” for the decision to discontinue the case. A Cabinet Office spokesman said the decision to drop charges was made by the Crown Prosecution Service “entirely independently of government”.
As the Conservative party conference begins in Manchester, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch’s pledge to deport 150,000 illegal migrants a year is highlighted by The Sunday Express. In an interview with the paper, the shadow justice secretary, Robert Jenrick, warns that the days of “pussy-footing” are over and pledges to continue removals “until every single illegal migrant is deported”. The Express welcomes what it calls the “bold” plans and urges the government to study them in detail.
Several papers assess Kemi Badenoch’s position as she prepares for her first Tory conference as leader including The Sunday Telegraph, which claims to have been told by several members of the shadow cabinet that she has six months to save her job before MPs look elsewhere to find someone who can beat Reform UK.
The Observer agrees that “time is running out” for Ms Badenoch, noting that many Conservative members “believe only a new leader can save them from extinction” while The Sun on Sunday says it is “vital” that she outlines a bold vision at what it calls the “make-or-break” conference, after struggling to convince her party she is not leading it into oblivion.
The Mail on Sunday and The Sun on Sunday both criticise the former deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, after her taxpayer-funded bodyguards were pictured helping her partner to move belongings between their homes. “Rayner is taking us for a ride”, says the Mail’s headline. A spokesman for Ms Rayner said the close-protection team had acted to minimise risk to her security. The government says security arrangements for MPs are a matter for the parliamentary authorities.
