The Daily Star pays tribute to singer Chris Rea who has died aged 74. Rea, known for his song Driving Home For Christmas among others, died after a short illness. The news came only days after he shared a post to Instagram from a car saying “Driving home for Christmas with a thousand memories”, the paper reports.
King Charles III is officially the “hardest-working royal” despite his “battle with cancer”, according to the Daily Mirror. The paper hails him as “King of Industry” as it reports that the monarch clocked up 532 engagements this year, 330 more than the Prince of Wales.
Police chiefs plan to scrap non-crime hate incidents after calling them no longer “fit for purpose”, the Daily Telegraph reports. Police leaders have been warned current legislation threatens free speech and plan to replace them with a “common sense” approach.
The Financial Times leads with London’s West End busy with British shoppers buying last-minute Christmas presents. It reports on the hope that this festive season will generate some “economic magic” after recent years of “weak growth, high inflation and political uncertainty” impacting “consumer habits”.
The families and supporters of Palestine Action hunger strikers have pleaded with Justice Secretary David Lammy to meet them to end the protest, the Guardian reports. The protest has “reached a dangerous stage”, the paper says, with the health of the strikers deteriorating.
The i Paper leads with a young worker diagnosed with silicosis calling for a “full ban on quartz-engineered stone” to “save other men like me from killer kitchens”. Luke Bunker, 29, lives with the incurable lung disease.
In a bid to save Britain’s vibrant High Streets, post offices will be part of a revamp to “lure shoppers back to town centres”, according to the Daily Express. Following the closure of banks, post offices have been picked to fill the void, the paper reports.
The Daily Mail leads with a husband and five other men being charged with a string of sexual offences against his ex-wife over a 13-year period.
Taxpayers will be kept in the dark about how much public money is being spent on union officials’ paid time off, the Times reports. As part of the government’s workers’ rights reforms, Labour has scrapped powers to cap “facility time” and will not require the NHS and schools to declare it, the paper says. Elsewhere, under new animal rights reforms, boiling live lobsters and crabs will be banned, with the government saying it is “not an acceptable killing method”.
In a “new blow” for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the Sun reports that the former prince has had his gun licence revoked. The paper says he agreed to give up his licence after specialist police paid him a visit at the Royal Lodge.
The Independent is calling for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to back the paper’s bid to “beat HIV by 2030”, urging him to lead the global fight against Aids which it says claimed 630,000 lives worldwide last year. In the top picture spot is a giant hole that opened up at a Shropshire canal after heavy rain, swallowing boats and leaving a huge trench.
