Browsing: Paper Talk UK

The Spending Review leads Wednesday’s newspaper front pages with the left-leaning press celebrating the investment into the country – including billions of pounds being put into social housing and the NHS. Almost £90 billion is set to go to science and tech and the U-turn on winter fuel is continuing to be praised. There’s a more cautious and sceptical tone from the right-leaning press who see the chancellor’s U-turn on winter fuel as evidence she is unable to do her job – and in regards to the spending review, they are concerned about how the country will pay for the investments, suggesting tax rises are set for the Autumn budget.

Tuesday’s newspapers are dominated by the news that Chancellor Rachel Reeves has U-turned on her scrapping of winter fuel payments for roughly 9 million pensioners. Those pensioners will now again be eligible before this winter – it’s unclear if pensioners who missed out will be able to get the money backdated.
On Wednesday, Reeves will unveil her spending review, with speculation rife across the papers, critics are asking just who is paying for all this.

California set to sue Trump as unrest spreads – Tuesday’s front pages report on the ongoing unrest across California which is spreading across other US cities. The clashes between protesters of the immigration crackdown and the US National Guard are making international headlines as California says it will sue the US President for escalating the protests by sending in troops.

Several UK newspaper front pages cover the departure from Reform UK for the party chairman Zia Yusuf. The reports that a Reform civil war has broken out over a potential Burka ban, have deepened divisions within the party and led to several high-profile departures. It’s been a difficult time for Reform, internally, with questions over leadership, conflict and internal divisions swirling.

The Labour government’s U-turn on their deeply unpopular cuts to the winter fuel payments leads much of the newspapers. The government has said more pensioners will now be in line to receive the payment again but stopped short of explaining the new eligibility criteria. The chancellor did confirm those who will be eligible will receive their payment by this winter.

Thursday’s newspaper headlines report on the winter fuel U-turn announced by the chancellor yesterday – widely welcomed by the newspapers.

The UK front pages react to a new Home Office report that has linked the UK’s hot weather this year to a dramatic rise in the number of small boat crossings when compared to the same period last year. A record 11,074 people arrived in small boats before May this year, a rise of almost 50% compared with the same period last year.

The story leads two tabloid front pages this morning – both conservative-leaning.

The left-leaning press takes a more neutral tone compared to the sensationalist approach from the right.

Most of the newspapers react to the government’s Defence Secretary Review plans, announced by the prime minister yesterday. The UK is set to spend an extra £2bn on drones and AI in a bid to make the country “battle ready” – but some papers (right-leaning Conservatives) warn that a tax rise will likely be on the way to pay for it. New submarines are set to be built in what some papers suggest is a warning to Russia, and the review lays out plans to recruit more people for the army, with a paid stint in the military for school leavers being considered.

German and Portuguese police are to begin a new search for the missing Madeleine McCann – who disappeared on holiday in Portugal when she was three years old in 2007. The search will cover the municipality of Lagos, which sits next to Praia da Luz, the town in the Algarve where she went missing nearly two decades ago. Portuguese police confirmed on Monday that they were carrying out the search between 2-6 June on warrants issued by German prosecutors.

Most of Monday’s newspapers lead with the prime minister’s strategic defence review, which is set to be released later today. The papers have a preview of what is likely to be in the review – which will outline the government’s priorities for military and spending in the coming years.