Year: 2025

The London business newspaper CITY AM reports economists are warning the PM’s defence spending boost will come at a heavy price – and asks who’s going to pay.

The Sun leads with the new search for missing Maddie McCann as well as the latest in the Beckham family feud. The PM gets some space at the top of the page as the paper reacts to the defence review.

Most of the newspapers react to the government’s Defence Secretary Review plans, announced by the prime minister yesterday. The UK is set to spend an extra £2bn on drones and AI in a bid to make the country “battle ready” – but some papers (right-leaning Conservatives) warn that a tax rise will likely be on the way to pay for it. New submarines are set to be built in what some papers suggest is a warning to Russia, and the review lays out plans to recruit more people for the army, with a paid stint in the military for school leavers being considered.