Today’s news summary – Paper Talk
Wednesday’s front pages are dominated by reports that Germany is planning to send tanks to Ukraine. The newspapers also splash on the state of the UK economy and report calls on the government to address ‘deadly failings of the criminal justice system.
Germany to send Ukraine tanks
The Daily Telegraph calls it a “hammer blow for Putin” saying the decision came after Berlin “succumbed” to weeks of international pressure. It quotes Zelensky’s chief of staff as saying the new tanks will be the “punching fist of democracy against the autocracy from the bog” of Russia.
“A significant breakthrough” in Western efforts to help Ukraine – that’s how the Financial Times sees the move. The paper says the move suggests Germany and the US are now acting in concert. Berlin had apparently said no to sending tanks unless the US committed to doing so – Washington is reportedly preparing to send its Abrams tanks.
The Guardian calls the move ‘historic’ saying it is a groundbreaking decision -which puts German tanks on the European battlefields for the first time since WW2. The paper says the move will end months of painful soul-searching for a county haunted by its Nazi past.
UK economy – ‘shocking’
The Daily Mail’s front page headline reads: “2.5 trillion reasons UK must go for growth.” The headline refers to the latest national debt figure, which the paper calls “shocking.” It says an array of economic data is piling pressure on the chancellor to come up with a plan for growth.
For the Times, the paper leads on a warning that the government spending watchdog intends to revise its estimates for medium-term growth down, leaving the chancellor with a £9bn black hole just before the budget in March. The paper says it understands the Office for Budget Responsibility now believes longer-term prospects are also bleaker, though any recession this year is likely to be “shorter and shallower” than expected.
