The Times, like most of Friday’s front pages, leads with Princess Diana and Martin Bashir interview findings.
“The BBC’s lies fuelled my mother’s paranoia”
The paper says an independent inquiry, led by Lord Dyson, found the BBC had fallen short of its “high standards of integrity and transparency” and that Martin Bashir had acted in a “deceitful” way and faked documents to obtain the 1995 interview.
Diana’s eldest son Prince William is pictured on the paper’s front page during a broadcast of his response to the inquiry’s findings, in which the papers says he condemned the corporation for its “lies” in securing the interview, which “stoked her paranoia” and played a part in the breakdown of her marriage to his father, Prince Charles.
The official statements from Prince William and Prince Harry feature on the front page.
MI5 accuses Facebook of helping terrorist
The paper reports the head of MI5, Ken McCallum, has accused Facebook of giving terrorists a “free pass” by allowing stronger encryption on its network.
McCullum said Facebook’s plans to install end-to-end encryption would block hundreds of counterterrorism investigations by Security Service.
He told Times Radio: “Decisions taken in California boardrooms are every bit as relevant to our ability to do our jobs as decisions taken in Afghanistan or Syria.”
The Times Online reports on the latest UK Covid-19 news.
Covid surge testing eases fears over spread of Indian variant
The article says infection rates are clearly rising in only three out of 15 Indian variant hotspot areas, easing fears about how quickly it spreads.
Cases in over 60s are not rising in any of the areas currently subject to surge testing outside Bolton, in what is being seen as an encouraging sign that the vaccines are protecting the most vulnerable.
Boris Johnson keen to help pubs by calling time on one-metre rule
The Times Online says the “one-metre plus” social distancing rule is still on course to be scrapped next month, Boris Johnson has told Conservative MPs.
He said it was the “single biggest difference” the government could make to help pubs get back on their feet and that he was determined to remove the restriction on June 21.