Today’s news summary – Paper Talk: Tory MP arrested over rape and drugs claims
Several of Friday’s front pages lead with the news that Crispin Blunt has revealed himself to be the Tory MP who was arrested on Wednesday in connection with an allegation of rape and possession of controlled substances.
Blunt said he had twice been interviewed by police, the first time three weeks ago after he reported his “concern over extortion.”
More Tory scandals
The Sun says the “scandal is the latest to rock” PM Rishi Sunak’s government. The paper was the first to report on Blunt’s arrest. The i newspaper claims the arrest has thrown the Tory Party into “turmoil.”
The Daily Mirror features a large image of a Palestinian boy covered in blood, with the headline: “Save them.” The paper says it knows many of its readers will find the image distressing but adds that it “brings into sharp focus the suffering of youngsters on both sides of a conflict they have nothing to do with”.
Middle East crisis continues
There is a report on the front page of a meeting between the King and representatives of various aid agencies in London on Thursday, during which Buckingham Palace says he discussed the “acute humanitarian situation” unfolding in Gaza.
The Times reports that 200 British citizens are currently trapped in Gaza and are pleading with the UK government to rescue them before Israel starts its ground invasion. The paper says PM Sunak has promised the government will do “everything” it can to get them out and that Border Force officials have been sent to Egypt in the hope of evacuating them.
The Guardian says Israeli forces entered “a new phase” of their war against Hamas on Thursday when they launched a probing action in preparation for a more sustained ground offensive”. The paper says infantry, backed by tanks and armoured bulldozers moved under the cover of night and carried out “an hours-long raid” on Hamas positions in the north of the territory.
The Daily Telegraph lead reports that Russia’s Vladimir Putin has welcomed senior Hamas officials and Iranian leaders to Moscow as he seeks to intervene in the Middle East conflict. Israel has slammed the move, saying it “gives support to terrorism”.
AI doom
The Daily Express warns the number of people with dementia will rise to 1.7 million in England and Wales over the next two decades. The paper says there is hope that the condition will become treatable with new drugs. The Times says the rates of dementia in the population are rising faster than previously thought, driven by widening inequalities, obesity and unhealthy living.
AI doom leads the Metro – the paper leads on comments from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who issued a “doom-laden warning that the rise of artificial intelligence could make humanity extinct”, according to the paper.