Most of Wednesday’s newspaper front pages lead with today’s Spending Review, set to be released this afternoon. The papers lead with the reports already out in press including almost £40 billion reportedly set aside for housing and a massive £86 billion package for science and tech.
Beyond the spending review, there’s some coverage of the mass school shooting in Austria – with at least 11 dead and many injured.
There’s some coverage of Gaza as Greta Thunberg speaks out about being detained and deported by Israel and the UK has issued sanctions against two far-right Israeli ministers for their comments over Gaza.
IN FULL: READ THE SPENDING REVIEW
‘Spending Review boost welcomed. But who will pay for it?’
The FT, the i, the Daily Mirror and The Times are amongst the newspapers leading with the spending review.
- The Financial Times says the chancellor will release £39bn for affordable housing, saying the money is “the biggest boost to social and affordable housing in a generation,” according to the Treasury. But the shadow chancellor says the plan will increase debt and taxes will rise in the autumn budget.
- The i Paper says the chancellor’s plans for a programme to boost social and affordable homes for 10 years instead of five years, calling it a win for the deputy PM.
- The Daily Mirror says the chancellor’s £39 billion package will “turn the tide” on an affordable housing crisis.
The right-leaning papers have a more critical and sceptical tone in their reporting.
- The Times says that even with a £30bn Spending Review boost for the NHS it won’t come close to hitting waiting list targets. Citing officials, the PM’s goal of treating 92% of patients within 18 weeks is achievable “only by using implausible and overly optimistic assumptions.”
- The Daily Mail says the chancellor has been “rocked” by a “jobs slump” ahead of the review. The paper says as the chancellor prepares “to take a gamble on the nation’s finances with a giant spending spree,” the paper cites figures that show 250,000 jobs “have gone” since her Budget last year.
- Daily Express leads with a call for the chancellor to “scrap the rural inheritance raid” – the changes to inheritance tax she announced last year – after she made a U-turn on scrapping winter fuel payments for pensioners.
Austria school massacre – UK and allies sanction Israeli ministers – Chagos Islands deal
Elsewhere, a handful of other stories make the front pages.
- The Daily Express shows images of the police responding to the attack in Austria.
- Metro says the “revenge massacre” at the Austrian school left 11 dead – including the suspect. The paper reports that the 21-year-old suspect “claimed he had been bullied and failed to graduate from the school.”
- The Guardian reports that the UK has imposed sanctions against two Israeli ministers for “inciting violence against Palestinians.” The paper adds that other countries – including Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway – have taken similar action.
- The Daily Telegraph turns its attention back to the Chagos Islands reporting that the Mauritian government said it will use almost all of the £500m to pay off national debt, allowing it to abolish income tax for many of its residents.