Editorial 13 August 2024.

Tuesday’s front pages cover various domestic and international political stories as tensions across the Middle East and Europe continue to escalate. Many of the newspapers feature images of British diver Tom Daley – who announced his retirement just weeks after securing a silver medal at the Paris Olympics. 

Elsewhere, many of the papers react to the report on the failings in the treatment of the Nottingham attacker, Valdo Calocane. The papers pick up on comments that a doctor had warned years earlier that Calocane could end up killing someone. 

‘Blood on their hands’ report lays bare failings that left Calocane free to kill

‘Blood on their hands’ says the Daily Mail which quotes the reaction of families to the report on the failings in the treatment of the Nottingham attacker Valdo Calocane. The paper describes the findings as “devastating.” 

The Mirror headline reads: “They were told he could kill” alongside Calocane’s mugshot. 

The Sun’s front page says “NHS left killer free to slaughter my son” as it speaks to Emma Webber – the mother of Barnaby, who was one of three people stabbed to death that day. She tells the paper she felt “visceral and genuine shock” when reading the report. Describing Calocane as “evil, twisted, and vicious”, she accuses mental health services of “washing their hands” of him, leaving him free to carry out the attacks.

The Metro also leads with the story – “They knew for three years he was a danger.” The paper reports that breaking into a neighbour’s flat was “among a litany of missed chances to intervene” before he carried out the fatal attack in June of last year.

‘Evacuation plans for Britons’ 

The i newspaper leads with a report that the government is drawing up plans to evacuate British nationals from across the Middle East in the event that an Iranian attack on Israel triggers a wider war in the region. 

Sources tell the paper the officials are concerned about what they call an “uncontrollable” move towards escalation. 

According to the Telegraph, a strike could come within days even before Gaza ceasefire talks resume on Thursday. The paper reports that Starmer held a “rare telephone call” with Tehran on Monday warning the Iranian President that “there was a serious risk of miscalculation and urged Iran to refrain from attacking Israel.” 

‘Get a grip on illegal migration’

James Cleverly leads the Daily Express, telling the tabloid that the government needs to “get a grip, and fast” on illegal migration after more than 700 people crossed the channel in a single day. The former home secretary accused PM Starmer of “doing nothing” to “stop the boats” but No 10 insists it is working to “smash the gangs responsible.” 

The Telegraph says the PM plans to do this by working with the Italian PM Giorgia Meloni. The paper says he has supported Meloni’s plans to overhaul the EU’s police force to make it docs on tackling people smuggling.

The PM is said to have floated the idea of officers from the UK conducting joint operations with Europol.

‘Labour MPs closing X accounts’

The FT reports that sources have told them Chancellor Rachel Reeves is considering turning the private sector to pay for a £9bn highway and tunnel crossing the Thames. The paper says that investors in the Lower Thames Crossing, which is due to link Kent and Essex, would receive returns from the toll road.

The Guardian’s top story covers a climate study that suggests hot weather “inflamed by carbon pollution” killed nearly 50,000 people in Europe last year. The paper says the toll would have been “80% higher if people had not adapted to rising temperatures”, which it says shows that “efforts to adapt societies to heatwaves had been effective”. Elsewhere, there is a report on Labour MPs closing their X accounts because of what they call the spread of hate and disinformation on the platform.

The Times leads on the latest from the war in Ukraine. The paper covers Ukrainian President Zelensky’s warning to Vladimir Putin that war was “coming home” to the Russian president. The attack on Russia was the largest incursion on Russian territory in more than two years of war.