Newspaper review: Hunt's Labour warning and new Royal images

BBC News - Staff

May 17, 2024 at 12:03 AM·5 min read

Financial Times: BT shares surge 17% as new CEO vows to put squeeze on group's short sellers — Sir Keir Starmer features on the front of a number of Friday's newspapers - including the Financial Times - after he set out Labour's priorities if the party wins the next general election. Starmer is pictured on the FT's front holding up a set of pledge cards. Elsewhere the paper says BT's CEO Allison Kirkby "loves to squeeze" short sellers while unveiling £3bn of cost cuts. The paper also features a story on former Love Island stars charged by the Financial Conduct Authority with promoting an unauthorised trading scheme on Instagram. [BBC]

Daily Telegraph: Labour tax rises as sure as night, says Hunt — "Labour tax rises as sure as night follows day" is the main headline on the front of the Daily Telegraph as it quotes Chancellor Jeremy Hunt hitting out at Sir Keir Starmer's party. Also catching the eye is a picture of Hollywood legend Francis Ford Coppola after he unveiled his decades-in-the-making Megalopolis at the Cannes Film Festival. Finally, following up on Thursday's stories about NHS whistleblowers, a consultant tells the paper she will "never be the same again" after being hounded by managers who also insisted she provide fingerprints. [BBC]

Daily Express: Be warned taxes will go up under Labour, says Hunt — The chancellor makes an appearance again on the front of the Daily Express as Jeremy Hunt looks set to pledge fresh tax cuts under a Tory government after the next general election. There is also some cheery news for homeowners as the paper reports on mortgage rates being cut while Queen Camilla beams as she clutches some flowers while at a garden party at Lamb House in Rye. She quips her husband is getting better and adds, "Well, he would if he behaved himself." [BBC]

The Guardian: Ministers knew about carer’s allowance problems three years ago, report reveals — The Guardian also includes an image of Sir Keir Starmer on its Friday front page as the paper splashes on a Department of Work and Pensions report. According to the paper, the study reveals ministers were told three years ago about hardship endured by carers forced to repay thousands after minor allowance breaches. The paper also has the latest on the condition of Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico who is recovering in hospital after being shot five times on Wednesday. [BBC]

i news: UK's water firms dumping sewage on their own doorstep in worst year on record — Starmer again features at the top of the i newspaper insisting he does not want to raise taxes, as he gave his big speech on Thursday. Elsewhere, the paper leads with a report on Britain's water companies now discharging so much sewage into the nation's rivers - a 54% increase in 2023 - that they are unable to tackle major discharges just down the road from their own company headquarters. [BBC]

The Times: NHS crippled by surge in number of stranded patients — The Times also carries an intimate image, just revealed, of four royal mothers - Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret, Princess Alexandra and the Duchess of Kent - holding their newborn babies. The children, Prince Edward (now the Duke of Edinburgh), Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones (now Lady Sarah Chatto), James Ogilvy and Lady Helen Windsor (now Lady Helen Taylor) - all turned 60 this year. The picture is from a Buckingham Palace exhibition called Royal Portraits: A Century of Photography. But the lead story on the Times centres on a report warning extra funding and more staff cannot improve productivity within the NHS because so many people are stuck on wards with nowhere to go. [BBC]

Daily Mail: Don't betray our royal mail — The image of the four royal mothers also dominates the front of Friday's Daily Mail. In other domestic news the tabloid leads with a report that Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch is warning Royal Mail bosses she will not allow £3.5bn sale without guarantees on postal services. [BBC]

Metro: ‘Britain’s kindest plumber’ accused of faking sob stories to raise £2,000,000 — The Metro looks ahead to a bumper weekend of sport as the Premier League season comes to a climax with Arsenal and Manchester City vying to be champions while UK boxer Tyson Fury gets set to take on Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk. Whoever wins Saturday's undisputed heavyweight title fight in Saudi Arabia will be crowned the division's first undisputed champion in the four-belt era and arguably the greatest heavyweight of a generation. [BBC]

Daily Mirror: Parents whose baby Teddy Houlston became Britain’s youngest ever organ donor welcome new little girl — "Our joy" is the bold headline on the front of the Daily Mirror as the tabloid speaks to the family whose tragic baby Teddy Houlston became Britain's youngest ever organ donor. The paper reports the family have welcomed a new sister for his surviving twin brother Noah ten years on. [BBC]

Daily Star: Bless you Fido! — Finally, "Bless you Fido!" is the headline on the front of Friday's Daily Star which warns that dogs which roll in the grass could end up sneezing for days. Owners are urged to take walks in the dark rather than the day. [BBC]

There are plenty of reviews on Friday's front pages of Sir Keir Starmer's announcement about what Labour plans to do early on if it wins the general election.

"Starmer lays cards on the table" says the Financial Times alongside a picture of him holding aloft a pamphlet featuring his party's new pledges.

The Times's political sketch writer, Tom Peck, calls them "baby steps for a PM who'll learn to toddle before he runs".

Sticking with politics, the Guardian reckons Sir Keir has proved himself to be prime minister in waiting. It says the launch of plans was a "stark display of how inevitable a Labour victory now seems".

In Purfleet on Thursday Sir Keir Starmer set out what Labour would do first if it won the next general election [PA Media]

However, the Daily Express carries a different message from the Chancellor who says taxes will go up under a Labour government.

It is a similar theme in the Daily Telegraph as the paper reports Jeremy Hunt will accuse Sir Keir of using "playground politics" to disguise plans to hit families in the pocket.

"Don't betray our Royal Mail" is the Daily Mail's front-page headline as it carries a warning from the Business Secretary, Kemi Badenoch, that she won't allow a proposed takeover of the firm by the Czech billionaire, Daniel Kretinsky, unless certain services are protected.

Finally, the i newspaper reports UK water firms are "dumping sewage on their own doorstep".

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