Saturday’s front pages are leading with a variety of stories including the removal of cartoon characters from the reception of an asylum centre. The i says there has been backlash among Conservative MPs after the immigration minister ordered the Disney murals to be painted over. With the headline “Mickey Mouse vs Home Office”, the paper says officials have accused Robert Jenrick of competing with the home secretary to be the toughest on migration.
The prime minister has been urged to talk up Brexit, says the Daily Express, as it reports a series of MPs have warned that he must move on from “the gloom and doom” agenda of remainers. Rishi Sunak is being encouraged to remember what won the Tories an 80-seat victory in the 2019 election, says the paper. “We are the party of Brexit and opportunity,” says Conservative Brendan Clarke-Smith.
Meanwhile, in his first interview since standing down as BBC chairman, Richard Sharp has suggested wealthier households should pay more for the public broadcaster, reports the Daily Telegraph. He said the current flat fee system was “regressive” and instead suggested the licence fee be replaced by a tax on broadband bills or a household levy based on property value, notes the paper.
The prime minister is under pressure from five cabinet ministers to give public sector workers a 6% pay rise despite concerns over inflation, reports the Times. Mr Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will respond to the recommendations in the next fortnight, says the paper. The Times also leads with a picture of eight-year-old Selena Lau who was killed when a Land Rover crashed through a school fence in Wimbledon on Thursday.
Also featuring a picture of Selena on its front page, the Daily Mail says the victim’s family are in agony over the loss of the “clever, cheeky girl”. The paper has also led with an accusation that politicians are out of touch on the topic of electric cars, as it says Westminster has more charging points than six major cities in the North and Midlands combined. The London borough has 2,196 car charges, compared to the 1,593 across Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield and Birmingham, notes the Daily Mail.
The Sun reports that a top BBC presenter is off air while allegations that he paid a teenager for sexual pictures are being investigated. The well-known figure, who has not been named, is accused of giving the teenager money since they were 17 in return for the images, the paper says.
The chancellor has ruled out any big pre-election tax cuts this autumn, reports the Financial Times. The paper says Mr Hunt has warned he must “double down” on inflation and would not “pump billions of pounds of additional demand” into the UK economy. The Financial Times also leads with six more women who have come forward to allege that financier Crispin Odey sexually assaulted or harassed them. Odey’s lawyers previously told the paper that he disputed the first set of allegations.
The Daily Mirror leads with TV star Fiona Phillips thanking the public for their support over her battle with Alzheimers. “People have been so kind,” said Philips after she revealed her diagnosis in the paper. The Mirror’s front page also features a picture of tennis player Katie Boulter with the headline: “Making of an ace.”
Meanwhile, the Daily Star claims that “psycho robot scumbags” have promised not to rebel against humans. The clever robots say they are currently happy, says the paper, which asks: “But they would say that, wouldn’t they?”
