Several of Friday’s front pages cover plans for a future military deployment in Ukraine. “Starmer threatens Putin” is the I Paper’s headline, after the prime minister warned of “severe consequences” for the Russian president if UK troops were attacked, the paper reports. It comes as Sir Keir “steps up plans” for a “31-nation military force” to provide security guarantees to Kyiv in the event of a peace deal, it adds.
Starmer has had a “change of heart” over plans to send ground troops to Ukraine, according to the Financial Times. Instead, he is “turning towards air and sea support” to secure a future peace deal for the war-torn nation, it says.
The prime minister’s visit to a nuclear submarine has sent a message to Putin about the UK’s deterrent, the Times reports. Defence Secretary John Healey, who joined Sir Keir, said Britain had the power to do “untold damage” to Russia with its nuclear arsenal, the paper says. Russia itself has the world’s largest nuclear arsenal.
The Daily Mail’s headline is “Council tax sours to a record high”. Millions of families have been hit with “inflation-busting bills”, the paper says.
The Daily Express links the council tax rises to the prime minister, saying Labour has been accused of “hammering households” with a 5% increase in the bills.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has accused the Conservatives of “betraying” future generations on energy, according to the Guardian. He was responding to Tory leader Kemi Badenoch’s criticism of the UK’s net zero target, the paper says.
A man convicted of killing 18-year-old Stephen Lawrence in 1993 “finally admits he was there on the night Stephen died”, the Daily Mirror reports. David Norris had “for 32 years denied taking part in the attack”, the paper says.
London’s Metropolitan Police have made a list of the 100 “most dangerous predators targeting women and girls”, the Metro reports. The paper carries an article about the force’s initiative by Met chief Sir Mark Rowley.
The UK’s official growth forecast will be halved next, the Telegraph says, describing the move as a “blow to Sir Keir Starmer”. Its front page includes a picture of former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who was cleared following an investigation into the SNP’s finances, the paper reports.
Boxing legend Frank Bruno has been “rushed to hospital” after falling “seriously ill” on a flight, the Sun reports.
“Sod the JFK files,” says the Daily Star, referring to a tranche of documents published earlier this week. Instead, the paper leads on a “special investigation” into a “decades-old” debate over a broom belonging to fan-favourite Only Fools and Horses character Trigger.
