Ministers are attempting to broker a deal with the EU and other countries to give frozen Russian assets in the UK worth £8bn to Ukraine, reports the Times. The paper says they are also warning Vladimir Putin is an “active threat to the UK’s citizens, security and prosperity”. A photo of Israeli Eurovision singer Yuval Raphael is splashed across the paper after the competition was “hit by boycotts” from several nations over the inclusion of Israel.
The Guardian focuses on Reform UK leader Nigel Farage who it says “turned on broadcasters” for questioning him about racist and antisemitic comments he is alleged to have made as a teenager. The politician gave an “angry performance” at a press conference, vowing to boycott ITV and the BBC – and also pointing out the networks had shown homophobic and racist content themselves in the 1970s and 1980s. Farage has denied the claims against him and the Guardian says Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice called the former classmates liars.
For the Daily Mail, “Farage’s ‘It Ain’t Half Hot Mum’ attack on BBC double standards” is in the lead. The Reform UK leader said the corporation should issue an apology for broadcasting the programme and others if it wanted to apply the standards of today to the 1970s.
Reform UK have been thrust into the “fundraising lead” reports the Financial Times after an expat entrepreneur’s record £9m gift. The paper also snaps Russian President Vladimir Putin in a car with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the pair met in New Delhi at the start of a two-day summit.
Ex-Masterchef host John Torode is “in therapy over TV axe” reads the headline of the Sun. He says he is suffering from “grief” after being fired from the show when an allegation of racism against him was upheld. Torode has denied the allegations.
There are “fears of worst flu wave to strike NHS this winter” says the Daily Express. Experts have urged people to get a jab, it adds. The paper also features a photo of England cricketer Joe Root who has scored a century in the Ashes. “Even Australia will have to admit he’s a great now,” it writes.
The Daily Star also headlines on Joe Root’s cricketing success with “not out” after he “saves fans from Oz legend’s balls”.
“Dawn’s blood on his hands” leads the Daily Mirror after an inquiry found Russian President Vladimir Putin to be “morally responsible” for the death of Dawn Sturgess. The “Russian tyrant ordered his assassins to attack” British agent Sergei Skripal writes the Mirror, before “recklessly” discarding the perfume bottle containing the poison that ultimately killed the mother-of-three in Salisbury.
“Putin personally ordered novichok attack on Salisbury” headlines the Independent, also reporting on the conclusion of the inquiry. The attack was intended to show “Russian power”, the paper quotes the author of the review, retired Supreme Court judge Anthony Hughes, as saying. In a snap of Joe root, the Indy asks if England can “stage an Ashes comeback?”
For the Daily Telegraph, David Lammy has broken “ranks” on Brexit as it says the deputy prime minister refused to rule out reversing the UK’s withdrawal from the EU process seven times. The Telegraph dubs Putin and Modi “brothers in arms” sharing the same picture as the FT on its front.
Calling Labour the “party of welfare” is “ignorant”, Labour’s Liz Kendall has said in an exclusive for the i Paper. The chair of the government’s child poverty taskforce said “we’re the party that backs kids and their future”. The i dubs Joe Root “the GOAT” for “finally” getting his Ashes ton.
Metro dubs the Lake District the “Quake District” after a 3.3 magnitude tremor left locals and tourists “quaking with fear”.
