The car incident at Liverpool’s Premier League Victory parade is still front page news on Wednesday. “Parade suspect in drug drive arrest,” is the headline in Metro.
The “parade horror driver” was “on drugs”, says The Sun in its headline. The tabloid names several of the celebrities who have shown their support for the fans, including “Liverpool legends” Sir Kenny Dalglish and Jürgen Klopp, who offered their “thoughts and prayers” for those affected.
The Daily Star’s front page is in line with the other tabloids, featuring an image of an ambulance at the scene in Liverpool. Another image shows the faces of the three children chosen as “Harry’s wiz kids” for the new Harry Potter television programme.
Fire engines and ambulances lining the streets of Liverpool also feature on the front page of the Daily Mirror under the headline “Driver on drugs”.
The Daily Express reports that the man arrested is “suspected of tailgating [an] ambulance to get through roadblock”. Paramedics were rushing to “treat a supporter who was feared to be having a heart attack” as the man drove through the crowd, it says. Elsewhere on the front page is the royal tour of Canada as King Charles III warns the country is facing a “critical moment”.
Coverage of the King’s visit to Canada also makes the front page of the Daily Mail. “Worried about Trump? Don’t make me laugh!” reads a headline over regal purple next to an image of the King chuckling. As his diplomatic visit continued, his sister Princess Anne “visited medics who treated the injured at the Royal Liverpool Hospital”, the Mail notes. The King sent a message celebrating the “strength of community spirit”.
The King “insists” Canada is “strong and free” as he smiles at the country’s Prime Minister, Mark Carney, in The Daily Telegraph’s front page splash. A Matt cartoon further down the page jokes that the royal visit will prompt a “tariff of 1000% on Duchy biscuits”. Closer to home, “cannabis should not be criminal, says Khan” as the London mayor makes a call for regulation reform while “the Home Office said it had no intention of decriminalising” the drug. The government is planning a “tax raid on pensions”, the Telegraph also writes, suggesting that possible new reforms could cost the average earner more than £500 a year.
The King also “defends sovereignty of Canada” on the front page of The Times while in its top story, the paper writes of “police safety fears over jail plan” as Sir Keir Starmer plans to release prisoners early. The heads of Metropolitan Police, MI5 and the National Crime Agency warn the plan could be of “net detriment to public safety”, it writes.
The new policies of Reform UK leader Nigel Farage top the i Paper, which says it would cause “Truss mini-Budget style market chaos”. Farage announced in a speech in central London that he would lift the two-child benefit cap and reinstate the winter fuel payment to pensioners.
“Ministers in standoff with Reeves” following the IMF’s warnings to the chancellor, The Guardian reports. The paper says some senior police figures have raised concerns about the forthcoming spending review that they “cannot take further budget cuts”. A young girl holds her hands in a heart shape in paper’s only front page photo as the paper tells of how she died in an Israeli air strike. Yaqeen Hammad, 11, was an influencer in the war-torn region who “spread hope”, it writes.
The Daily Mail, the Daily Express and The Sun lead on the man suspected of driving into crowds in Liverpool being questioned on suspicion of offences including drug-driving. The Express describes how a steward correctly allowed an ambulance to pass by a road-block before a Ford Galaxy “raced through” behind. The Sun’s editorial praises the police for revealing the ethnicity of the suspect within hours and backs calls for “full consistency” the next time there is a tragic incident or terror attack.
The main story for The Times is a letter from police and security chiefs to ministers raising concerns about plans to release some prisoners early to ease pressure on jails. A source tells the paper that although there have been changes to sentencing announced since the letter was written, the thrust of their concerns remains the same.
The Treasury is in a standoff, according to The Guardian, with some ministers over possible cuts to social housing and policing in next month’s spending review. The paper says the Home Office and the housing ministry are among the departments yet to agree their budgets. The paper highlights the suggestion yesterday, by the International Monetary Fund, for the chancellor to consider refining her fiscal framework, to allow for shallower spending cuts. But government sources insist there will be no change to the rules and point to the high cost of borrowing. The Financial Times, leading on the debt market, says fiscal pressures are forcing the Treasury to shift to borrow in the shorter term to try to bring down the bill on interest payments.
The i Paper carries a warning from economists, that the policies announced by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage yesterday would risk “mini-budget style market chaos”. One explains that gap between Reform’s savings target and what is reasonably practical is about £75bn, double the un-costed commitments proposed by Liz Truss.
The Daily Telegraph focuses on the call by the Mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan, for the possession of cannabis in small quantities to be de-criminalised. The paper points out that the mayor does not have the power to make such a change and figures in the national Labour party, including the prime minister, remain opposed.
