A variety of stories make the front pages of Saturday’s newspapers. The i newspaper leads on a polling about the prime minister’s plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing. It reports the survey found that just 23% of those surveyed felt the plans will deter Channel small boat crossings.
The Daily Mirror brands Tata Steel’s announcement about 3,000 job losses in Port Talbot “the final betrayal”. It says the move has sparked fears that the South Wales town will be “plunged into an economic crisis”.
The Home Office is “quietly” granting migrants who cross the Channel to come to the UK the right to work in the care, construction and farming industries, according to the Daily Telegraph. It reports that nearly 16,000 asylum seekers have been given the right to work in a year. The paper also features a front page picture of Prince Harry, after he dropped his libel case against the Daily Mail.
The Daily Mail also reports the end of Prince Harry’s libel case, claiming he “faces a £750,000 legal bill”. A spokesman for the Duke of Sussex has said it was “premature” to speculate on the amount. The Mail’s lead story says the UK is “gripped” by a measles crisis as it contrasts the current “wave of outbreaks” with suggestions that the illness was “wiped out” in the UK in 2016. Former prime minister Boris Johnson is also featured on the paper’s front page, with the columnist suggesting another Donald Trump presidency “may be just what the world needs”.
Green laws being “destroyed by Brexit” splashes the Guardian. An analysis by the paper suggests the UK “is falling behind the EU” on issues including air pollution, dirty water and pesticide use.
The Financial Times reports Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is gaining “extra headway” for tax cuts as a result of updated official forecasts. It suggests lower borrowing costs will pave “the way for a package of pre-election tax cuts”.
The Times reports on concerns at home and abroad about the size of the British Army. “European and American generals have questioned whether Britain can still be considered a top-level fighting force”, it suggests in its main story.
The Daily Express leads with former TV presenter Esther Rantzen’s latest comments on assisted dying. The campaigner, who has stage four lung cancer, wants the issue to be debated in the House of Commons and says messages of thanks and support she has received have left her in tears, the paper reports.
The Sun leads on one of the stars of the BBC Gladiator show, Giant, reporting he was found “bragging about using dangerous steroids” in online videos. Jamie Christian-Jogal says he has “come off” steroids and no longer “advocates the use of them”, according to the newspaper.
The Daily Mirror’s headline is “The final betrayal” – with the paper going on to describe the loss of thousands of steelworkers’ jobs at Port Talbot as “devastating”. It quotes unions accusing No. 10 of giving the plant’s owner, Tata, “£500m to throw 3,000 workers on the scrapheap”.
The i leads with polling on Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda plan, which suggests that just 23% of those surveyed felt the plans will deter Channel small boat crossings. It adds that only one in five voters thinks the PM “will ever send asylum seekers to Rwanda”.
The Times reports that European and American generals have questioned whether Britain can still be considered a top-level fighting force – after figures compiled by the paper indicated that the entire Army will have fewer than 70,000 soldiers within two years – smaller than the special operations forces of the United States.
The Daily Telegraph reports that Channel migrants have been “quietly” been given the right to work in sectors including care, construction and agriculture. Based on Freedom of Information data, it says nearly 16,000 asylum seekers, including those who crossed the Channel in small boats, have been allowed to work in a single year, in occupations where there are recognised staff shortages. In an editorial, the Daily Telegraph refers to it as a “scandal” which directly contradicts the Conservatives’ stated aims on migration.
The Financial Times says the chancellor is set to be handed a multi-billion pound boost by official forecasters next week – paving the way for a package of pre-election tax cuts. It reports that leading economists predict that lower borrowing costs could give Jeremy Hunt more fiscal headroom in his March budget.
Image source, PA Media
The Daily Mirror describes job losses at Tata Steel as a ‘final betrayal’
The Guardian says vital legal protections for the environment and human health are being destroyed in post Brexit departures from EU legislation. According to its analysis, Britain is falling behind the EU on almost every area of environmental regulation – as the bloc strengthens legislation while the UK weakens it. In practice, the paper says, it means water in Britain will be dirtier than in the EU, there will be more pesticides in the soil and companies will be allowed to produce products containing chemicals that the EU has restricted as dangerous.
The Daily Mail warns the UK is gripped by a measles crisis – noting it is a far cry from 2016, when Britain was declared measles-free by the World Health Organization.
The Financial Times reports that a judge has ruled against a senior manager at the Financial Conduct Authority who wanted to work from home full-time – finding the office was a better environment for “rapid discussion” and “non-verbal communication”. The paper says the decision will be watched closely by other employers trying to push staff back to the office. The case before the employment tribunal in Croydon itself took place remotely, with evidence given over video link.
The Sun reports that an angler was stunned after reeling in a rare Atlantic salmon while fishing in south-west London – sparking hope that the species may be returning to the Thames, after being all but wiped out by pollution from factories in the 1700s. However, the Angling Trust urged caution. saying it was possibly a stray fish which had lost its way.
