Editorial 29 July 2024.

Monday’s front pages continue coverage of Labour’s plans to cut public spending, tax rises and delay some major infrastructure projects – as Labour try to fix the £20bn hole.

Other domestic topics include threats by GPs to go on strike, the latest from Team GB at the Olympics and the Tory leadership race all find space on the front pages. 

In international news, Kamala Harris has raised more than £200m in donations since Biden announced he wouldn’t seek re-election in November – paving the way for Harris to become the Democratic nominee. 

The Golan Height attack – which killed 12 children – is reported on the front pages, as Israeli PM Netanyahu cut his US trip short to return to Israel and has vowed to retaliate against Hezbollah. 

Adam Peaty’s silver medal dominates the back pages this Monday morning, and so does Andy Murray’s dramatic win. 

‘£20bn black hole in public finances’ 

Many of the papers report on the chancellor’s plans to fill the £20bn black hole in public finances. 

The Daily Telegraph says Chancellor Rachel Reeves will announce the Ministry of Defence sites, unused NHS property and Network Rail land could be sold to help fill the black hole in public finances. 

The Times says selling surplus public property was a policy championed by former Conservative Chancellor George Osborne and the paper suggests Reeves will echo his arguments for austerity. 

But a Treasury source tells the Guardian that this is not about a “return to austerity” but repairing what they describe as the damage from “14 years of unfunded promises”.

The FT focuses on the fact the Treasury has not rejected speculation that the chancellor’s statement is a “softening up exercise for tax rises in the autumn.” 

Shadow chancellor Jeremy Hunt writes in the Daily Express accusing Labour of trying to “fabricate their own truth” to justify tax increases. He says Reeves has her eyes firmly set on capital gains tax, inheritance tax and pension relief. 

The Daily Mail’s editorial says that if the government slashes infrastructure projects and increases wealth taxes, it would “snuff out” growth “in a heartbeat”.

‘GPs threaten strike action’ 

A few newspapers lead on potential strike action from GPs. 

The Daily Mail and the i newspaper feature the story as their lead. They say that if GPs do choose industrial action – the first in 60 years, it could bring the ‘NHS to a standstill.’ The ballot closes at midday.

The Daily Mail says if the action goes ahead it is feared up to three million GP appointments could disappear every month.  

The Daily Mirror says underfunding general practice could lead to a two-tier system where some patients go private. The Department of Health tells the i that it is planning for all contingencies.

‘Golan Heights attack’

The Guardian and the Times lead on international news, reporting on efforts to urge Israel to exercise restraint after the rocket attack which killed 12 children and teenagers in the occupied Golan Heights.

The Daily Telegraph notes in its leader column that Hezbollah is “an altogether different challenge to Hamas”. The prospects of a war are spreading across the Middle East and are a worry to foreign governments who have turned a blind eye to the threat of Hezbollah for too long, the paper adds. 

The FT leads on US politics saying VP Kamala Harris has raised $200million in the first week of her election campaign. The paper says it’s more money than both Joe Biden and Donald Trump had collected in the whole of June. The paper says there are signs in the polls the vice president is closing the gap between her and Donald Trump. 

‘Adam Peaty wins silver’

British Olympic swimmer Adam Peaty is pictured on many of the front pages – and dominates the sports pages – after he was pipped to first place last night by two one-hundredths of a second. Many of the papers feature a snap of Peaty holding up his silver medal. 

The Sun says he missed out on gold “by a fingernail” while the Times highlights his post-race comment that he was “crying happy tears.” But the Mirror has a more negative take on it using a pun on his name, “what a Peaty,” it says.