The Independent leads on Commons leader Penny Mordaunt who said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ‘should reflect on’ gender jibe made in the House of Commons during Wednesday’s PMQs.
No 10 and the PM have rejected calls to apologise after Sunak made the jibe in front of Brianna Ghey’s mother – who was in the House during the session.
The Guardian reports that campaigners and unions are “furious” with Sir Keir Starmer for U-turning on his £28bn green investment plan. It calls the move “the most controversial U-turn of Keir Starmer’s leadership” and says it has prompted an angry response from environmental groups, trade unions and some in the energy sector.
The paper quotes the Unite union saying Labour risks “outsourcing their policy-making to the Conservatives”.
The Metro’s front page leads on a conspiracy theorist’s claim that the Manchester Arena bombing was faked. A high Court has described the claims as “absurd and fanatical”. Richard Hall is being sued by a father and daughter who were both badly injured in the 2017 attack.
Hall claimed the attack was part of a government exercise and that survivors lied about their injuries.
The Sun reports on plans to introduce a blue card into football that would see players sent to a 10-minute sin bin. The paper says football fans have reacted with fury over the sin-bin plans.
The paper says the move would add to the “confusion” caused by the video assistance referee system (VAR), which critics have said slows down the game and fails to improve the quality of the decisions made.
The Daily Mirror reports the number of children having teeth pulled in hospital has rocketed to 48,000 last year due to difficulty accessing dentists.
An average of 119 operations a day are currently being carried out on children with tooth decay, according to the Daily Mirror. The paper quotes British Dental Association chair Eddie Crouch saying that the “oral health gap is widening for our youngest patients”.
The prime minister is going to “come out fighting” against Labour’s “dirty politics”, according to the Daily Express. The paper reports Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of trying to divert attention away from dropping his flagship green policy by calling on Rishi Sunak to apologise to Brianna Ghey’s family over comments at PMQs.
A Tory source has accused Sir Keir of using the death of Brianna Ghey, a transgender teenager who was murdered in a park in February last year, to “distract from his party’s chaos”.
Prince William has made his first public appearance since the King’s cancer diagnosis, the Metro reports, while Prince Harry has flown home to the US following his short visit to the UK to see his father.
‘I’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you, also, for the kind messages of support for Catherine and for my father, especially in recent days,’ he said. ‘It means a great deal to us all.
An investigation by The Independent has found that the government has been forced to publicly admit flawed decision-making led to Afghan heroes being turned down for sanctuary in Britain.
The front page features an image from Wednesday night’s chemical attack, as well as an inset picture of the man they are looking for. The man appears to have significant injuries to his eye. The paper notes at least 12 people were injured in the attack that appears to have been targeted.
Copyright WTX News 2023
