A picture of Scarlett Johansson features on the front of Daily Telegraph as she attends the London premiere of film Transformers One which she stars in. The paper leads on Sir Keir Starmer denying he has lost control of Downing Street “despite civil war breaking out at the centre of his government”. It adds tensions in No 10 and questions over chief of staff Sue Gray’s £170,000 salary threaten to overshadow the Labour Party conference.
A funeral in Lebanon is the main picture on the front of the i newspaper. It reports the Middle East is “steps closer to regional war” as Israel bombs southern Lebanon. Armed group Hezbollah was targeted with pager and walkie-talkie attacks. Elsewhere, it says there is a frantic hunt for the mole who leaked Sue Gray’s salary to the BBC.
The Guardian leads with Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah threatening Israel with “tough retribution and just punishment” in a speech on Thursday. He also threatened to strike Israel “where it expects and where it does not”. Hot To Go! singer Chappel Roan also features on the page, telling the paper: “My whole life has changed”.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been provided with a £10bn budget boost by the Bank of England which is increasing pressure on her to ease spending cuts and tax rises, the Times writes. The paper says Labour MPs are calling for the cash to be used to delay scrapping some pensioners’ winter fuel payments.
“Al Fayed ‘a serial rapist'” headlines the Metro as it reports on the BBC investigation into late billionaire and Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed. The papers reports the BBC’s investigation found more than 20 female ex-employees say Mr Al Fayed sexually assaulted or raped them. The Metro writes the tycoon who was “portrayed as the gregarious father” of Diana’s lover Dodi in Netflix’s The Crown “was a monster”.
“Shop of horrors” headlines the Mirror as it picks up the BBC’s story on Mr Al Fayed. The Mirror says at least 100 women are feared to have been sexually abused by the tycoon. It quotes Gemma, his former personal assistant. Speaking to the BBC about Mr Al Fayed, who she accuses of raping her, she said: “He felt like such a powerful man with so much money.”
The Daily Express pictures RAF veteran Jack Barlow who says he survived atomic bomb tests but now asks if he will survive the winter due to his winter fuel payment being “snatched away”.
The Financial Times says consumer confidence in the UK fell sharply in September, wiping out progress made so far this year. The paper observes it comes despite consumers benefiting from cheaper loans, rising real wages and a decrease in inflation. Elsewhere, it pictures people in Lebanon watching the leader of Hezbollah give a speech in which he vowed revenge on Israel.
Tory leadership contender Robert Jenrick has written in the Daily Mail that mass immigration and woke culture have put England’s national identity at risk. He says the ties which bind the nation together are beginning to “fray”. Elsewhere, it reports Mr Starmer is “on the rack” over Ms Gray’s salary and freebies.
The Sun reports Snooker player Ronnie O’Sullivan has split from fiancee actress Laila Rouass.
The Daily Star asks “what planet are they on?” It says minister defends “cadger PM’s £100k of freebies” as some pensioners lose the winter fuel payment.
“Middle East steps closer to regional war” is the headline on the front of the i. It says Iran has joined Hezbollah in threatening retaliation against Israel – which they blame for the waves of explosions that rocked Lebanon. The Guardian says the Lebanese foreign minister has called the bombings a dangerous development that could “signal a wider war”. Analysis by the Financial Times says the attacks suggest Israel’s strategy is to force Hezbollah to rethink its military support for Gaza.
Several papers focus on the rape and sexual assault allegations against the former owner of Harrods, Mohamed Al Fayed. The Daily Mirror says there are fears there could be “at least 100 victims”. The Daily Telegraph says the accusations raise questions about why Mr Al Fayad was not charged when Sir Keir Starmer was the director of public prosecutions. Downing Street has said Sir Keir had no involvement in the decision not to bring charges against the businessman, who had been questioned by police in 2008.
The Daily Mail headlines an article by the Conservative leadership contender, Robert Jenrick, and his warning that “English identity is under threat”. In the paper he writes that “unprecedented migration” and the “dismantling of our national culture” have presented what he calls “huge problems”.
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Mohamad Al Fayad died at 94
The Times says the Treasury could be handed a budget boost of 10 billion pounds due to a slowdown in the rate that the Bank of England sells off bonds. The paper says some Labour MPs want the extra money to be used to delay the scrapping of winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners. But the Treasury says the “overall gains and losses” from the changes made by the Bank of England are “highly uncertain”.
The Daily Express uses its front page to highlight the plight of pensioners due to lose winter fuel support. An RAF veteran is pictured alongside the headline: “I survived atomic bomb tests and cancer but will I survive this winter?”. The government has insisted the change is necessary to help address a £22 bn “black hole” in the public finances.
Several papers are highly critical of government’s defence of the prime minister for accepting more than a hundred thousand pounds in “freebies” since 2019. The Daily Star seizes on comments by the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds. It quotes him as saying that receiving hospitality is not “a perk of the job” as “people want to engage with decision-makers”. The paper pictures him and Sir Keir Starmer floating above the Earth in spacesuits alongside the headline: “what planet are they on?” The Sun’s columnist, Julia Hartley-Brewer, calls Sir Keir a “hypocrite“.
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Levens Hall is home to the world’s oldest topiary garden
Pictures of the world’s oldest topiary garden feature in i, Times and Daily Express – as the two month-long job of trimming its dozens of sculpted plants begins. The Daily Express says the 330-year-old garden at Levens Hall in Cumbria has hedges in abstract and traditional designs – but also in the shape of Homer Simpson and Darth Vader. It quotes the head gardener as saying “topiary is a journey. You’re never finished, they’re always developing”.
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