Editorial 19 August 2024.
Monday’s front pages reflect various domestic issues facing the country including the latest from Westminster and a round-up of this weekend’s Premier League action.
Several of the papers feature an image of French actor Alain Delon, who has died at the age of 88. Several other more right-leaning – and tabloids – lead with images of Prince Harry and Meghan who visited Colombia last week.
The back pages are heavily dominated by football as the weekend saw the return of England’s top flight.
‘UK support for Ukraine has slowed’
The Daily Telegraph reports on concerns that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s support for Ukraine is waning after President Volodymyr Zelensky said aid from the UK had “slowed down”. The paper speaks to four former Tory defence secretaries who say the UK is failing to provide Ukraine with the support it needs. The prime minister has been urged to rethink his refusal to allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles produced in the UK to hit targets deep inside Russia, the paper adds.
The Daily Mail says “Half of Labour MPs in pay of unions.” The paper says according to figures, 213 of the 404 Labour MPs took union money to help them fight the election. A Labour spokesperson said all donations were declared in line with parliamentary and Electoral Commission rules.
The Metro leads with a story that the government will start to treat extreme misogyny like terrorism. The paper says it’s a “war on women haters.”
The Daily Express continues its coverage of the winter fuel payment, which the chancellor has proposed scrapping for many pensioners. The paper says all six Tory leadership hopefuls have backed the paper’s campaign for a U-turn.
Away from politics, other domestic stories are splashed on the front pages.
The i leads with an investigation that has found that almost 3,000 children and teens are believed to have been spiked with dangerous drugs in the past three years. The paper speaks to headteachers who told of children being rushed to hospital after spiked vapes. There is particular concern about vapes being laced with the synthetic drug, spice, the paper adds.
The Mirror leads with an interview with the sister of a British woman who died after cosmetic surgery in Turkey. She is critical of the clinic where the surgery took place and has called for it to be shut down. The clinic says the woman’s cause of death can only be determined by a coroner but they believe the woman may have died after one of the blood vessels to her lung became blocked.
The Guardian and the Financial Times lead on international news.
The Guardian reports on US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s arrival in Gaza and hopes that a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas can soon be reached.
The FT leads with an interview with Mary Daly, president of the San Fransico Federal Reserve, who says the Fed needs to take a gradual approach to rate cuts.
Both papers feature tributes to French actor Alain Delon. The Guardian quotes French President Emmanuel Macron. “He offered his unforgettable face to shake our lives. He was a monument.” The Financial Times details his “tumultuous” life, including his admission of having connections to real-life gangsters.