A late intervention in the election campaign by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson leads a number of the papers. The Daily Telegraph says Mr Johnson made a “surprise appearance” at a rally last night and told the audience it was “not too late” to “draw back from the brink” and stop Labour forming the next government. It adds that Mr Johnson previously blamed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for aiding his 2022 downfall by resigning as chancellor, but that the two “buried the hatchet to put the Conservative Party first”.
The Times says Mr Johnson warned that a Labour landslide was “pregnant with horrors” and described Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who last month drew criticism for suggesting the West has “provoked” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as a “Kremlin crawler”. The paper says Mr Johnson had been expected to sit out the campaign and calls the appearance a “last-ditch attempt to win back disaffected Conservative voters”.
Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak decided to bury their differences and unite to try to stop “Starmergeddon”, according to the headline in the Daily Mail.
The Daily Express says Mr Sunak has launched an “impassioned appeal” to its readers, telling them: “Your vote counts, your voice counts… please use it wisely”.
The Conservatives are facing a “backlash” after criticising Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer for saying he would try to spend Friday evenings with his family if he won the election, according to the Guardian. The paper reports that Sir Keir, whose wife is from a Jewish family, said it should be “blindingly obvious that a Friday night is quite important in some religions”, adding some have described the intervention as insensitive and with antisemitic undertones.
The Daily Mirror reports that Sir Keir told a rally at Hucknall Town football club on Tuesday that the election was an “opportunity to turn out backs on 14 years of chaos, division, and failure”. The Euros-themed headline reads: “14 years of hurt never stopped us dreaming…”.
Whoever wins the election is facing a crisis in the country’s prisons, the i suggests. The paper says a controversial scheme under which some prisoners were released early has not sufficiently eased overcrowding and that prisons are just days away from being full. It says a contingency plan never previously used could see the introduction of a “one in, one out” system and inmates driven around the country to facilities with free cells.
The Daily Star reports that pop singer Kim Wilde has joined it in endorsing electoral candidate Count Binface, who this year is standing against Mr Sunak in the Richmond and Northallerton constituency. The paper describes the candidate as the “sanest politician in Britain”.
The UK’s water companies are bracing for an influx of lawsuits after the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that private landowners can seek redress over sewage leaked into waterways, according to the Financial Times. It follows a case bought against United Utilities, which provides water in the north-west, by the Manchester Ship Canal. The paper quotes environmental campaigner Feargal Sharkey calling the decision “massive” and saying it “opens the way for thousands of claims by fishing clubs, swimmers, riparian owners” against water companies.
And the Metro reports that universities are “collaborating” with police to spy on students taking part in protests over the conflict in Gaza. The paper says one e-mail to campus staff showed a police officer describing a pro-Palestinian talk as “one to monitor”, while another asked for the address of a student who had posted pro-Palestinian content on social media.
