The Financial Times leads on new Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s threat that the UK could suspend visas from countries that do not agree to returns deals for illegal migrants. Mahmood, who the paper reports is known as a “tough political operator”, says securing the UK border was her “top priority”, and that other countries need to “play ball” on the issue.
Mahmood will “risk spats for more deportations”, according to the Times, which also leads with the home secretary’s pledge to impose visa restrictions if countries refuse to take back illegal migrants to the UK. The Times is one of several papers to feature a photo of the Duke of Sussex at an event in the UK, but adds that he had “no plans to see his brother”.
The Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex were at times less than 15 minutes’ drive away from each other on the third anniversary of the late Queen’s death, but “the estranged brothers did not meet”, according to the Daily Mail. “There’s still a chasm between the warring Princes” is the headline.
Prince Harry also appears on the front page of the Daily Telegraph, but the paper leads with new league tables ordered by the health secretary which show four in five NHS hospitals in England are “failing”. The rankings show that more than 100 of England’s 134 acute hospitals are “off-track” on performance or running financial deficits.
The i Paper reports that the Labour Party’s left wing is plotting “revenge” on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, as they scramble to find a candidate for the deputy leadership election. Lucy Powell and Emily Thornberry have emerged as early front-runners to replace Angela Rayner, the paper reports, while new housing minister Alison McGovern is understood to be Downing Street’s preferred candidate.
The Guardian reports that a trove of leaked data from Boris Johnson’s private office allegedly reveals how the former prime minister – who has so far not commented on the claims – has been profiting from contacts and influence he gained in office in a possible breach of ethics and lobbying rules. The BBC has not verified the existence or content of what the Guardian calls the Boris Files.
Civil servants at HMRC offices have taken more than 500,000 sick days in each of the last three years, according to the Daily Express, a situation which Conservative MPs have criticised as “unfair on taxpayers”. It follows an earlier Daily Express story which reported tax officials failed to collect more than £46bn annually because they miss phone calls from businesses trying to pay taxes.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves will today describe Reform UK as a “clown show” with a “fantasy economic plan”, according to the Daily Mirror. Reeves is expected to address cabinet on Tuesday on her plans to drive growth ahead of an Autumn Budget where tax hikes are expected. “Don’t be fooled by Farage” is the Mirror’s headline.
Up to 100 huge drug shipments a year are reaching the UK and Europe because investigators are “too stretched” to intercept them, Metro reports. The recent £135m bust of a cargo ship carrying cocaine through the Irish Sea is the “tip of the iceberg”, according to the paper.
The Sun focuses on the Madeleine McCann case, reporting that a former German intelligence officer who helped secure the release of Christian Brueckner, a prime suspect in the disappearance of the British girl in Portugal in 2007, has said she “felt sorry for him”. The Sun reports that she was concerned that Brueckner’s “human rights might have been infringed”.
“Fool’s gold” is the headline for the Daily Star, which reports that US President Donald Trump’s claims to have decorated the Oval Office with real gold have been “exposed” as fake. The paper says some of the decorations in the office are “plastic moulds sprayed gold”.
Many of the papers consider the toppling of the French prime minister François Bayrou in last night’s confidence vote. The Financial Times says the outcome of the vote puts pressure on President Macron to stem a spiralling political crisis. The Guardian notes that Macron will have to appoint his third prime minister in only one year. The Times says the left and right of French politics have united and warned him that if he appoints someone from his centrist camp, they would immediately be ousted.
The i Paper is more interested in the political difficulties facing our own prime minister, as his party begins its search for a new deputy leader. “Labour left plots revenge on Starmer” is its headline. The Daily Express says left-wingers have accused Sir Keir of trying to meddle with the rules to ensure one of his chosen candidates is selected. The Daily Mail believes Labour is on the brink of civil war. The Daily Mirror says the modern Labour party must reflect the country it seeks to govern.
The Daily Telegraph says the Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch will challenge Sir Keir Starmer to work with her party on a plan to cut the welfare bill. The paper says she will warn him that his only chance of getting significant welfare savings through the Commons is by working with the Tories. The Daily Express says that if Labour backbenchers want to stop saddling future generations with debt, they need to listen to her.
The Guardian says it has seen a trove of leaked documents from the office of the former prime minister Boris Johnson which, it says, suggests that he has used a publicly subsidised company to manage an array of highly paid jobs and business ventures. The paper says he has not responded to multiple requests for comment. The BBC has not verified the existence or content of what the Guardian calls the Boris Files.
“Just seven miles apart, but there’s still a chasm between the warring princes” is the Daily Mail’s take on the fact that Prince Harry was in England to mark the third anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s death yesterday, but didn’t meet up with his estranged brother. The Daily Mirror said that at an awards ceremony for seriously ill youngsters, Harry joked to one child: “Does your sibling drive you mad?”
