Friday’s Guardian leads with a story that features in many of today’s papers – the last-minute closure of school buildings that are made with aerated concrete. “Thousands of pupils in England may begin the autumn term taking lessons remotely or in temporary buildings,” the paper reports. Elsewhere there is an image of Grant Shapps, who has been made defence secretary – his fifth cabinet position in a year
Parents with children in affected schools are “scrambling for childcare”, the i says. More than 100 schools across England have been told their buildings are at risk of collapse, it adds, with former Home Secretary Priti Patel telling the paper “this is a big mess” and criticising the government for failing to act sooner. A smiling Mr Shapps also features on the front page
The Daily Telegraph compares the situation to the Covid lockdown, when pupils were last taught remotely. It says unions have warned this is the “tip of the iceberg” and that “hundreds” more schools built with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) could be closed. It adds the Department for Education is “facing questions about why it waited until the eve of the new school year” to make the call. Cartoonist Matt Pritchett makes light of the situation with a drawing of a mother fretting about her children going back to school – growing out of their hard hats “so quickly”
The “last-minute order to close” school buildings has come despite a claim by the Times that “first warnings” about RAAC in roofs cracking “came as early as 1995” – raising questions about the government’s handling of the issue. The paper also has a slot for the coordinated strike of junior doctors and consultants in England, due in October, which it says health service leaders have warned is “a step too far”
“How callous can get get?” the Daily Mail asks striking doctors in its headline, pointing to “record NHS waiting lists” as a major concern. The days-long walkout is the result of an ongoing pay row with the government – and marks the first time both groups have walked out together in this dispute. “Staff will work on a Christmas Day basis,” the paper explains, meaning emergency care will continue to be given
The Daily Express describes the strike as “more NHS misery”, beside an image of consultants holding placards with messages about their pay. On schools, the paper asks why it has taken “five years to shut unsafe” buildings, claiming it has been that long since the “danger” of RAAC was put to the relevant officials
A striking image of the fire in Johannesburg, South Africa, that killed more than 70 people sits atop the Financial Times. The business paper’s main story is about India’s Adani Group, which it says lost $4.2bn (£3.3bn) in shares following revelations about “family-linked shareholders in the company’s stock”
Continuing with its campaign to save England’s railway ticket offices from being closed, the Daily Mirror focuses on protesters who “descended on Downing Street” on Thursday to demand the government “stop the cull”. Alongside an image of some of those who marched is a headline claiming the government knows the move “will punish the elderly, hurt disabled people and frighten women” who are travelling alone
The Metro’s main story is about Sam Newey, a 22-year-old British fighter who died in Ukraine trying “to push back against Russian imperialism”. Hailed as a hero by his brother, the paper says Newey had fought “repeatedly on the front line since joining an international unit, known as the Dark Angles”, after Russian leader Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine last year
Responding to its own front page from Thursday, the Sun carries an interview with a British war veteran who disagrees with Prince Harry’s recent accusation that the media did not do enough for troops fighting in Afghanistan. Ben McBean, a roadside bomb victim who the paper says was among the “badly-injured troops Harry saw when … they were airlifted from the war zone”, tells the paper he has had the royal’s “back for 15 years – [but] on this one he’s wrong”
