Today’s news summary – Paper Talk
Thursday’s front pages are heavily dominated by the international reaction to Russian president Vladimir Putin’s TV announcement, in which he hinted at nuclear weapons use and called up Russian military reserves which have prompted plenty of young Russian men to flee their homes.
Putin makes new threats
“We won’t be cowed” is the headline from the Daily Mail which says the PM delivered a “defiant riposte” to him when she spoke at the UN General Assembly.
The Guardian focuses on the words of President Joe Biden who used his address to try to unite the international community by saying Putin’s ambitions are a threat to the UN’s founding values.
In the paper’s editorial, it says Putin’s threats and his calling upon the army reserves indicate one thing – that he’s losing the war. The paper says having “blundered” into a long conflict than he expected he is now reliant on a “demoralised, poorly co-ordinated and corrupt Russian army, outlasting Ukraine’s will to fight for its survival”.
Whilst the Daily Telegraph says the calling upon reserves caused panic in Russia – and tickets out of the country sold out within hours of the announcement. The paper claims young men are trying to flee the country.
An anonymous reservist writes in the paper that he dreads receiving draft papers, saying dozens of his friends are desperately trying to travel anywhere they can to avoid being called up.
GP appointments in two weeks
Some of this morning’s papers report on government plans for all patients in England to be given a GP appointment within two weeks.
The Daily Express says Therese Coffey will promise a focus on the needs of patients when she gives details of the plans later. But the Daily Mirror says GPs have slammed the government’s plan, which they say will have minimal impact on patients while adding to the intense workload of family doctors.
Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt urges new health secretary Therese Coffey not to focus on short-term measures designed to “keep the NHS quiet” at the expense of long-term reforms, in the Daily Telegraph. He claims that at the top of her list should be workforce reforms to end the shortages seen in nearly every speciality.