The Guardian – Labour puts growth and planning at heart of promise to ‘fix’ the UK
The Guardian’s front page says the prime minister has pledged to “fix the foundations” of the UK by boosting economic growth with reforms to energy and planning. A large image of Charles and Camilla makes the front page as the King reads out the government’s plans. Elsewhere, there is a report on Keir Starmer’s plans to ward off a backbench rebellion with his child poverty plan.
Starmer pledges to ‘fix the foundations’ of the country in Labour’s king’s speech
Keir Starmer has pledged to “fix the foundations” of the country for the long-term by boosting economic growth with reforms to energy and planning in Labour’s first king’s speech in a decade and a half.
The new prime minister said the government would require “patient work and serious solutions” to restore trust in British politics and rebuild the country, with 40 bills in the government’s new legislative programme.
The plans would also help to counter the “snake oil charm of populism”, he told MPs, as his new administration grapples with how to respond to the rise of the populist right.
Speaking to MPs, Starmer said his government would “turn the page on an era of politics as noisy performance and return it to public service and start the work of rebuilding our country”.
Keir Starmer aims to avoid backbench rebellion with child poverty taskforce
Keir Starmer sought to ward off the first rebellion of his premiership with the launch of a new cross-government taskforce to tackle child poverty, as backbench Labour MPs were preparing to support calls for the controversial two-child benefit cap to be scrapped.
Starmer’s first king’s speech contained no specific measures to address child poverty, angering dozens of MPs on his own benches, given many of them have constituents suffering as a result of the policy introduced by the former Conservative chancellor George Osborne.
The Guardian understands the SNP has officially tabled an amendment to the king’s speech to scrap the policy. The party’s amendment has received cross-party support from the Green party, the Social Democratic and Labour party, Plaid Cymru, Alliance and independent MPs including Jeremy Corbyn.
Tom Daley fired up by ‘gold medal’ feeling of his children cheering him on
When Tom Daley went to the Tokyo Olympics his motivation was clear: after two bronze medals, in London in 2012 and Rio in 2016, he was going for gold. In front of an empty stadium, he finally did it, winning the synchronised 10m platform with Matty Lee.
Standing at the side of the pool of the London Aquatics Centre, a few days before setting off for Paris, the diver explains that this time around things are a little different.
“I have won an Olympic gold medal,” he says. “For me, the Olympic gold medal this time is having my kids there to watch. That’s really the thing I’m looking forward to most going into this competition.”
Today’s news summary – Paper Talk
If you are someone who reads every perspective of a story, here is a news summary of all of today’s front pages from today’s newspapers; summarised in a 2-minute read
Editorial 18 July 2024.
Thursday’s front pages are dominated by the King’s Speech as the new government unveils its plans for the country for the year ahead. The newspapers offer up their assessments of Labour’s plans and who it benefits.
Many of the papers feature images of Charles and Camilla at the King’s Speech. There is a splash of celebrity news on several front pages, whilst the back pages are dominated by Premier League gossip.