Today’s news summary – Paper Talk
Wednesday’s front pages report on the pressure facing Dame Alison Rose to quit her role as NatWest boss – after the papers had gone to print, Dame Alison agreed to step down from her role.
Several of the papers continue their coverage of the Rhodes wildfires as evacuations continue.
Dame Alison quits
Most of the papers had gone to print before it was announced Dame Alison had stepped down as NatWest CEO following the Nigel Farage banking scandal.
The Times quotes three cabinet ministers saying she “has no integrity” and “hasn’t understood from the outset just how serious” the situation is. One tells the paper the bank’s entire board “has to go if it wants to defend her”.
A city boss tells the Daily Telegraph that “it’s ridiculous” that the board backed her, saying she broke the “cardinal rule of banking.”
The Daily Mail leader column asks if banks can be trusted with our money. The paper says client confidentiality is a “fundamental tenet of banking” and demands an explanation of what happened.
Rhodes wildfires
The Guardian says British holidaymakers are angered by the response from tour firms. A volunteer in Rhodes tells the paper that many tourists left stranded by the wildfires haven’t received a response from their travel agencies.
The Sun tells the story of a family from Manchester who fled their burning hotel and spent the next three days in their swimwear.
The FT reports Algeria is battling killer wildfires as the heatwave in Europe appears to be wreaking havoc in North Africa too.
The FT’s main story is that the government is planning to overhaul green targets for landlords in an attempt to ease the strain on the housing market.
