The Guardian – Chancellor to reveal £20bn shortfall in public finances
The Guardian says Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to reveal a £20bn hole in government spending for essential public services on Monday, paving the way for possible tax rises in the autumn budget.
Elsewhere, a report suggested Israel and Hamas were “closer now than we’ve been before” to reaching a ceasefire deal, according to White House officials.
A large image of US gymnast Simone Biles makes the front page as she is seen in training for the Olympics – which kicks off on Friday.
Rachel Reeves expected to reveal £20bn shortfall in public finances
Rachel Reeves is expected to reveal a £20bn hole in government spending for essential public services on Monday, paving the way for potential tax rises in the autumn budget.
Labour sources said the blame lay with the Tory government, describing it as a “shocking inheritance” and accusing the former chancellor of “presiding over a black hole and still campaigning for tax cuts”.
They pointed to spending concerns on the asylum system, welfare, defence and prisons. However, work is still being done on the audit and the final figure of £20bn could shift as officials examine the spending commitments of each department.
When Reeves sets out the findings of her Treasury audit on Monday, she will also announce the date of the spending review and the budget in October.
Israel and Hamas closer than ever to ceasefire deal, White House says
White House officials said Israel and Hamas were “closer now than we’ve been before” to reaching a ceasefire deal as Benjamin Netanyahu met Joe Biden on Thursday to discuss an end to the nine-month conflict in Gaza.
The talks at the White House came amid unprecedented political turmoil in the US and domestic pressure on the Israeli prime minster to rescue the dozens of hostages still being held captive after Hamas’s 7 October attack. Netanyahu also met the US vice-president, Kamala Harris, who is likely to replace Biden as the Democratic candidate for November’s election.
“We’ve got a lot to talk about,” Biden said when he welcomed Netanyahu to the Oval Office. “From a proud Jewish Zionist to a proud Irish-American Zionist, I want to thank you for 50 years of public service and 50 years of support for the state of Israel,” Netanyahu told Biden at the start of their meeting.
The first glimpse of Simone Biles in Paris proved her brilliance is back
The last time Simone Biles attempted to vault in a competition arena at the Olympic Games, all hell broke loose. As Biles launched herself into her extremely difficult Amanar vault, she completely lost track of herself in the air, only managing one and a half twists instead of the planned two and a half. After withdrawing from the team final, Biles would spend most of her Olympic experience in the stands.
Three years on, Biles returned to the Olympic competition floor on Thursday morning as the women’s gymnastics teams worked their way through podium training, the one chance that gymnasts will have to train inside the Bercy Arena before the gymnastics competitions begin with the men’s qualifications on Saturday.
In her third rotation of the day, Biles flitted down the vault runway before launching herself on to the springboard with a back handspring. The 27-year-old increased her upward momentum by rebounding off the top of the vault table and wrapping in two piked backwards somersaults. She landed with her chest upright, her feet completely still: “Perfect! We’ll take this one in a heartbeat. It was really good,” said a smiling Cécile Canqueteau-Landi, one of Biles’s coaches, afterwards.
Today’s news summary – Paper Talk
If you are someone who reads every perspective of a story, here is a news summary of all of today’s front pages from today’s newspapers; summarised in a 2-minute read
Editorial 26 July 2024.
Friday’s front pages feature various domestic stories, with several papers looking ahead to a big economic speech by Chancellor Rachel Reeves on Monday, where she is expected to reveal a shortfall of as much as £20bn in the government’s finances.
There’s some sports and showbiz news splashed on the front – with the Olympics being a popular topic this morning. The back pages continue the Olympics coverage as well as a large dose of Premier League gossip ahead of the new season.