Editorial 15.09.24
Sunday’s front pages feature a wide variety of leads with only a handful of papers covering the same stories. Several newspapers carry pictures of the Strictly Come Dancing star Amy Dowden being hoisted on her fellow dancers’ shoulders in celebration of her return to the show after battling cancer.
‘Alarm over possible Russia-Iran nuclear deal’
The Observer leads on the UK and US response to the Ukraine-Russia war. The paper reports on the recent talks between Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and US President Joe Biden in Washington. There are fears from both nations that Russia has shared nuclear secrets with Iran in exchange for ballistic missiles intended to strike Ukraine.
The Sunday Times reports that five former Tory defence secretaries urging the PM to allow Kyiv to use long-range weapons inside Russia without US backing.
The paper also reports on a claim that the prime minister may have breached parliamentary rules by failing to declare that a party donor bought clothes for his wife. No 10 said it had “declared further items” following “further interrogation.”
The Sunday Express reports that ministers are thinking of scrapping the 25% council tax discount for single-person households in next month’s Budget. The paper cites campaigners who say it could leave pensioners “£1000 worse off.”
The Mail on Sunday leads on a debate and vote on legalising assisted dying which could be held within weeks. The PM is “privately paving the way” for a vote before Christmas after Dane Esther Rantzen appealed to him directly for a vote, the paper claims.
The Sunday Telegraph accuses the government of planning to row back on its plan to restore the ban on sales of new petrol vehicles by 2030. Ministers plan to instead allow 20% of new car sales to be hybrids until 2035, the paper reports.