Today’s news summary – Paper Talk
Several of Thursday’s front pages report ongoing turmoil for the UK economy. A number of the papers are leading with a speech PM Boris Johnson is expected to deliver on Thursday while in Lancashire.
The Times says the PM will announce a plan to help benefit claimants buy homes in England, which it says could put three million people on the housing ladder. The paper says the speech is “part of an attempt to shore up [Mr Johnson’s] authority” after he faced, and just about survived, a confidence vote on Monday.
The PM will try to move on from the Partygate scandal by setting out palms for tax cuts and declaring that boosting Britain’s economic growth rate is his top priority, according to the Financial Times. The “emboldened” PM will also cut bills “left, right and centre” in what the Daily Express claims will be his most radical move yet to ease the cost of living crisis. “Now that is a promise!” says the Express.
There’s a warning from the Guardian that a surge in the cost of fuel – combined with a “dire economic forecast” from the OECD think tank – has shattered the PM’s hopes of resetting what it calls “his troubled premiership.” The paper says fears that Britain faces a prolonged period of 1970s-style stagflation have intensified amid fresh evidence of the damaging impact of the Russian war in Ukraine on growth and the cost of living.
The Mirror’s front page highlights what it calls the “petrol crisis”. It says there’s a “despair and fury” at the likelihood that the cost of filing a family car is about to hit a record high of £100.
“Expose greedy petrol pumps” is the call from The Sun. The paper says the government is considering a “Pumpwatch” scheme to ensure drivers aren’t being swindled” after some forecourts failed to pass on the 5p fuel duty cut introduced in March.
The i and the Metro both lead on the national rail strikes planned by the RMT Union for 21, 23 and 25 June. The i says the actions will actually impact services every day between 21 and 26 June and that supermarkets could see empty shelves if fresh food supplies are affected.
The Metro accuses RMT boss Mick Lynch of having “no shame” after he apologised for the “disruption that people may suffer”. Mr Lynch has blamed the action on rail bosses’ plans to cut jobs and their failure to give members a pay rise in three years.
The Telegraph says that a “wave of strikes“ will trigger a “summer of discontent”. It says that, beyond the planned rail walkouts, ballots for action are taking place among staff at BT, Royal Mail postal workers, baggage handlers at Stansted, and check-in and ground staff based at Heathrow.
