A number of papers are leading with the news that some train drivers with the Aslef union have announced new strikes days after the government reached a pay deal with them. “Has Labour lost control of the unions already?” asks the Daily Mail in its main headline. It talks about how holidaymakers are now facing a “double nightmare” in September, with Border Force agents at Heathrow Airport also announcing a walkout.
The Daily Telegraph also talks about how “strikes threaten to spiral out of control”, alongside an image of Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner at the Johnnie Walker whiskey headquarters in Edinburgh and the caption “nice work if you can get it, Angela”. The paper leads on the Crown Prosecution Service admitting that evidence presented in the trial of serial child killer Lucy Letby, showing which staff came in and out of the baby unit, was wrong. The discrepancy had been corrected for her retrial, which found Letby guilty of attempted murder.
The Financial Times mentions the train strikes on its front page, alongside an image of King’s Cross station in London and the caption “looming strikes are set to bring services to a halt”. However, its main story is about the UK’s efforts to persuade the British financial technology company Revolut to list on the London Stock Exchange.
The new train strikes also dominate the front page of the Times with the headline “strike pain for travellers despite big wage rises”. Aslef insists that the reasons for the planned strike by London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is separate to the pay dispute – but the paper addresses concerns that unions and public sector workers are lining up for pay rises. The front page also features a photo of the mother of Hannah Jacobs, who died after having a fatal reaction to a Costa Coffee drink.
The Guardian also features a photo of Hannah Jacobs on its front page but leads on an interview with Home Secretary Yvette Cooper about her plans to set up a unit to try and stop violent crime among young people. Ms Cooper says teenagers these days have it “much, much harder” than earlier generations due to knives, social media, and mental health concerns.
Government funding also makes the front of the i – but this time in relation to healthcare. “GPs tell Labour: no end to 8am appointments turmoil without extra funding” reads the headline, in reference to Labour’s promise to “end the 8am scramble” when people have to queue up on the day for doctor’s appointments. Doctors say the funding increase announced by the government this week will not be enough to reduce waiting times.
The Daily Express leads with an exclusive on pensioners sharing their stories of how losing the winter fuel payments will lead them to have to choose between heating and eating. The chancellor announced earlier this year that she planned to scrap the payments to most pensioners. One woman tells the Express that the loss of the extra money will mean she and her husband, who are both in poor health, will have to work extra hours.
The Daily Mirror features an interview with football pundit Alan Shearer about how his return to highlights show Match of the Day this weekend will be difficult following the death of his father. Shearer describes the loss as a “void that can’t be filled and it still feels very raw”.
The Daily Star looks at a study by psychologists at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) that has found that venting your frustrations about one friend to another can make the friend you are talking to like you better. However, the experts caution that it is possible to go too far.
The Times highlights what it calls further “strike pain” for travellers after train drivers and Border Force officers at Heathrow Airport announced a series of new walkouts.
The paper says this latest round of industrial action comes after the government agreed above inflation pay rises for millions of workers – prompting the Conservatives to accuse ministers of being “played” by unions.
“Has Labour lost control of the unions already?”, asks the headline of the Daily Mail.
The Crown Prosecution Service has told the Daily Telegraph that some of the evidence presented in the first trial of Lucy Letby was “wrong”.
Prosecutors say data, showing which staff entered and left the baby unit where the former nurse committed her crimes, was corrected for her retrial.
The paper says Letby’s convictions – for murdering seven babies, and attempting to murder seven others – have come under scrutiny in recent months, with several scientists and doctors questioning the statistical and medical evidence that was put before the jury.
Plans to set up a new unit in the Home Office dedicated to preventing violent crime among young people are featured by the Guardian.
It says new guidelines will set out how police, schools, charities and mental health professionals can work together to steer teenagers away from breaking the law.
The Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, is reported to have told councils and police forces they have until Christmas to come up with proposals to tackle youth crime.
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The Home Secretary tells the Guardian that she thinks young people have to deal with a lot of pressures these days
With the headline “Britain’s worst looter”, the Sun reports on one of the latest offenders to come before the courts after the spate of violent disorder across parts of England and Northern Ireland earlier this month.
It says John Honey was jailed for nearly five years for stealing from shops in Hull, after he was seen at the front of a “baying mob”, stirring up trouble.
The 25-year-old is said to have been “easily identifiable” because of the distinctive shirt, featuring a St George’s cross, that he was seen wearing in social media footage.
The Daily Express says pensioners have warned they will have to choose between heating and eating, as a result of the chancellor’s decision to scrap Winter Fuel Payments for those not on means-tested benefits.
The paper says “swathes” of older people have got in touch to share “heartbreaking stories” of how they’ll be affected, after it launched a campaign to save what it calls the “essential lifeline”.
In a column, the shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Mel Stride, says cutting the Payment is a “downright disgrace”.
Last month, the chancellor said she had to make “urgent decisions” because of the previous government’s “undisclosed” overspending.
Freedom of information requests by the Daily Mail have revealed that the vast majority of civil servants based in Whitehall don’t work in the office every day.
According to the paper, the Department for Business and Trade is the “single worst” department at coaxing mandarins back to their desks, with as few as 17% of staff turning up on an average day.
The Mail claims official figures are misleading as they simply count the number of occupied desks, so a department with 1,000 employees but only 500 desks would record a 100% occupancy rate if just half the staff turned up for work.
The Cabinet Office says the Mail’s figures fail to reflect how civil servants are required to work away from their department headquarters in other buildings or on site visits.
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