Cuts to come in Spring Statement – PM told not to appease Trump  – Canada snap election

A lot is happening this Monday morning with news across the UK being dominated by both domestic politics and international stories. Cuts to come in Spring Statment – that’s the biggest story this morning as the chancellor leads much of the front page coverage amid speculation cuts to public services will be severe, potentially worsening the already poor living standards across the country.

Protests across Turkey, US tariff backlash and Canada snap election are featured across the UK news this morning. 

Pope Francis is pictured on a handful of newspapers after he was discharged from hospital. 

Cuts to come in Spring Statement 

There’s speculation concerning the upcoming Budget, due on Wednesday, with further public spending cuts and potential tax increases expected to be delivered by the chancellor. 

Tax rise or public spending cuts?!

In more bad news, Government spending and borrowing have defied expectations resulting in “perilous” public finances and placing pressure on the Chancellor to raise taxes or cut spending.

The expectation of cuts is being plastered across the left-leaning press amid fears there could be an even greater drop in living standards – echoing the past 14 years of Conservative austerity.  

• The i reports departments across Whitehall are preparing to tighten their belt ahead of expected spending cuts, with the education sector being no exception. The paper says the department is bracing for the “worst squeeze in a generation”.
• The Daily Express warns the chancellor that a petition, with more than 100,000 signatures, asks her to use her Spring Statment to stop pensioners on modest incomes from being hit with tax bills. 
• The Times looks at a more political angle, suggesting the chancellor is risking a “war” with the public sector over her plans to cut thousands of civil service jobs. 
• The Daily Mail throws shade at the chancellor who accepted free tickets to a pop concert earlier this month. The £600 seats will be declared but the revelation threatens to revive anger over last summer’s donation row. The paper ties the headline to the story of upcoming cuts, saying “How about cutting your freebies, Chancellor?”.

Heathrow had enough energy 

There are reports that Heathrow had enough energy to not close on Friday. 

• The Daily Star says sources say Heathrow boss Thomas Woldbye reportedly went to sleep not long after news of a fire at the airport. The paper features an edited picture of Mr Woldbye in a bed with flames in the background.
• The FT has an interview with the National Grid boss who says there was no lack of capacity at substations near Heathrow Airport and questions the scale of Friday’s shutdown after one substation went up in flames.
• The Daily Telegraph quotes John Pettigrew’s interview with the FT, in which he said “Heathrow ‘had enough power to avoid shutdown'”.

PM told not to appease Trump  

A handful of stories regarding the prime minister lead the newspapers. 

• The Guardian reports that Labour peers and the Lib Dems leader Ed Davey are cautioning the prime minister against “appeasing” Donald Trump with a cut to the UK’s £1bn-a-year digital services tax that affects companies such as Meta and Amazon. 
• The Metro reports the prime minister is asking councils to hit the ground running with their tallying up on how many pockmarked roads they are repairing. 

Protests in Turkey 

Overnight tens of thousands of protesters have taken part in demonstrations across Turkey after the main rival to the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was formally arrested and charged with corruption.

• Sky News reports protests have intensified – with protesters being met with tear gas and rubber bullets. People have defied a ban on gathering in Istanbul to take to the streets.
• Politico says Elon Musk’s X has suspended the opposition accounts in Turkey amid the civil unrest. Suspensions affect accounts spreading information about the widespread demonstrations. 
• Bloomberg says the Turkey president is betting the world will turn a blind eye to the turmoil in Turkey. “The president is banking on his NATO allies needing Turkey more than they need a fight over its democracy.”
• DW says Imamoglu’s wife has addressed tens of thousands of protesters in Istanbul who took to the streets for a fifth consecutive night since his arrest. Germany and France have condemned Imamoglu’s detention, it adds. 

Canada election, Trump’s tariffs

Several newspapers and websites report on the snap election called by the new Canadian prime minister Mark Carney. The general election will be held on 28 April 2025. 

• The FT says Canadian PM Mark Carney launched his election campaign yesterday with a warning that his country faces “the most significant crisis of our lifetime due to Donald Trump.
• The FT’s second lead storm reports that US trade has been shattered as the fallout from the US tariffs and uncertainty over the economic outlook and geopolitics have fuelled a sell-off in the US dollar and equities.
• The Daily Telegraph says the UK chancellor is preparing to offer a £700m tax break to American tech companies as part of an effort to secure a deal with the US to avoid tariffs.