The Metro leads with reaction to allegations that Matt Hancock ignored care home test advice when he was health secretary during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The paper carries reaction to texts published by the Telegraph on Wednesday that appeared to show former health secretary Matt Hancock declined to follow a recommendation that everyone entering a care home at the start of the pandemic be tested for Covid, an accusation he has denied. One campaigner whose father died in April 2020 tells the paper she is “sickened” by the allegations.

The front page reports on Ed Sheeran’s new album.