Today’s news summary – Paper Talk
Friday’s front pages are dominated by the energy price cap and cost of living crisis. The papers strike a similar tone across the board, with many highlighting the bleak outlook amid bill rises. The left-leaning papers have the harshest critic, blaming the chancellor and urging the government to “act now” whilst right-leaning papers are highlighting the chancellor’s pledge on the cost of living crisis – or have chosen not to feature the story on their front splash.
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“April Cruel Day” is the headline of the Mirror as it reports on the energy price cap and urges the chancellor to “act now”. The paper says the cap is being raised and National Insurance, council tax and other bills will also increase this month.
“Pain in the gas,” says the Sun, as energy bills soar by an average of £700. It says “blackmailing” Russian President Vladimir Putin threatens to send energy prices even higher by “turning off Russian gas supplies”.
The Daily Express reports figures suggesting that average UK house prices have surged by £33,000 in a year. Values rose at their fastest rate in 18 years and the boom is set to continue, says the paper, adding that the rise was more than the average UK salary.
The Guardian calls it “Bleak Friday” and reports that millions of customers attempted to provider meter readings ahead of price hikes, causing websites of big energy suppliers to crash. It says “as the clock struck midnight”, average annual energy bills for households rose to £1,971.
Similarly, the i leads on the cost of living crisis – reporting that that Conservatives are accusing Chancellor Rishi Sunak of being “politically naive”. It says an ex-cabinet member is predicting “Sunak’s leadership chances are over” as 2.5 million people will fall into “fuel stress”.
The Metro also focuses on the energy company website outages. One firm attempted to blame consumer champion Martin Lewis, who encouraged customers to register readings, it says.
