A week after Donald Trump unleashed his destructive and ill-thought-out tariffs on the world, US politics has stopped dominating the front splashes in the UK.
Monday’s headlines lead with domestic news, including British steel nationalised, prison officers attacked by Manchester bombing plotter and the Army being sent in to deal with the Birmingham bin strikes.
Liverpool and Newcastle’s weekend Premier League wins dominate the sports pages.
British Steel nationalised
The government took control of British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant this weekend, and many newspapers are speculating over what could happen next.
- Metro reports the government’s “race against time” to obtain sufficient raw materials to keep the blast furnaces running. It comes after ministers accused the plant owners of selling existing materials and not buying more.
- The Times reports ministers feared the plant’s Chinese owner, Jingye, planned to “sabotage” the site “to increase British reliance on cheap Chinese imports.”
- The i says Chinese firms “may be blocked” from critical UK sites following the weekend. The paper says Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds – who previously said Jingye did not negotiate “in good faith” over the plant’s future – acknowledges there is now a “high trust bar” for allowing such firms to invest in critical British industries.
- The Guardian reports British Steel is understood to be looking at offers of help from more than a dozen businesses, including rivals, as it tries to find the raw materials needed to keep its Scunthorpe plant open.
UK takes control of British Steel under emergency powers – read the bias in the UK newspaper headlines
Prison officers attacked
The brother of the Manchester Arena bomber, Hashem Abedi, has attacked three prison officers with boiling oil and a knife. The three prison officers were taken to hospital with “life-threatening injuries” – one has since been discharged. Unions are calling for change to ensure prison officers have more protection.
Adebi, 28, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 55 years in 2020 for helping his brother carry out the 2017 bombing attack in Manchester.
- The Daily Mirror asks why he had access to boiling oil and says prison staff are calling for rapid action to ensure they are protected.
- The Daily Mail says MPs think it’s “time to stop appeasing extremists in our jails.”
- The Guardian reports on the call from unions representing prison officers to ban inmates from cooking in jail. The paper says staff fear copycat incidents could start to spring up.
Manchester bomber plotter attacks three prison officers with hot oil and knife – read the bias in the UK newspaper headlines
Birmingham bin strike
The government has called in the army to help with the situation regarding the Birmingham bin strikes.
- The Daily Telegraph reports the move as “desperate.” The paper says the move risks inflaming tensions between Labour and unions after one of the city’s Labour MPs accused United of holding 1.2 million people “to ransom.”
- The Times has a similarly dismissive take on the army being called in, saying it will “tackle the bin strike … from the office.”
- WION says the ongoing bin strike in Birmingham has prompted a government warning about a potential public health crisis. Accumulated waste across the city is raising concerns over sanitation and disease risks.
Army called in to help tackle Birmingham bin strikes crisis – read the bias in the UK headlines
Trump tariffs latest
There is still a handful of headlines covering the Trump tariffs as the US President has indicated that he could slap China with a higher rate than the 145% it’s already facing. There’s coverage of Trump exempting iPhones and other electronics from the China tariffs – a move that has widely been seen as Trump backing down.
- The FT says the exemption for Big Tech products like smartphones “will only be brief,” according to the US commerce secretary.
- The Daily Express leads on Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who says it’s time to “buy British” to protect UK businesses from the US tariffs.
