Today’s news summary – Paper Talk: Lee Anderson backlash continues & AI fears for upcoming elections

‘PM must denounce anti-Muslim bigotry’

The front pages feature a variety of stories with no single story leading the news. For a few papers, they pick up on the continued fallout following comments made by Tory MP Lee Anderson.

The left-leaning newspapers want the prime minister to call out the anti-Muslim Rhetoric, whilst the right-leaning papers either ignore the story on their front pages or lead with claims that Anderson has plenty of support over his comments from ‘red wall’ voters.

All in all, there isn’t much unity in the front page stories this morning, with most papers leading on a variety of domestic and international news – from AI fears, UK weather and celebrity news.

Monday’s newspapers lead on the continued fallout from comments made by MP Lee Anderson, who was suspended from the Conservative parliamentary party over the weekend. 

The Guardian says the PM is being urged to denounce anti-Muslim bigotry after Lee Anderson was suspended from the Tory parliamentary party for saying the Mayor of London was controlled by Islamists. 

The i front page features a claim by Tory peer Baroness Warsi that the party is being “dragged into the gutter.” She says Muslims are treated as electoral campaign fodder and that anti-Muslim racism is tolerated. 

But the Daily Telegraph takes a different approach to the same story, instead reporting that some Tory MPs in northern Red Wall constituencies say their inboxes have been flooded with messages of support for Anderson.  The paper says “leaked WhatsApp message” which shows the prime minister is “facing warnings from Red Wall Tory MPs” of a backlash after Anderson was suspended. It notes that while no MPs “explicitly expresses support for Mr Anderson”, they do feel their constituents “have concerns about the fallout from the decision”.

‘Risks of a lost generation due to ill health’

Away from the Lee Anderson story, there is a variety of topics on the front pages.

The Daily Mail leads on a new report that warns young people are increasingly blaming mental health problems for being jobless. The paper says the report, by the Resolution Foundation, suggests people in their early 20s are now more likely to be out of work because of ill health than those in their early 40s.

The Telegraph quotes an expert from the Health Foundation think tank, who warns that without concerted cross-government effort, we risk creating a lost generation because of ill health.

The Daily Mirror leads on a report by the teaching union – the NASUWT – that has found school suspensions rose by 92% since the 2016-17 academic year. A senior union figure said there was a lack of funding, no classroom support for students and no mental health support.

‘AI fears for election and environment’ 

The Times leads on a warning from James Cleverly that AI-generated fake videos could be used by malicious states and criminals to hijack the general election. 

The FT includes a report that the biggest technology companies have substantially increased their water usage in recent years to cool data centres, sparking concerns about the environmental cost of AI. The paper says researchers from California are warning it is critical the matter is addressed as freshwater becomes increasingly scarce.