A number of Thursday’s papers lead with the “shock” result of the Conservative leadership contest. The Metro reports: “Tory fight veers to the right”, as “favourite” James Cleverly is knocked out of the contest in what it calls a “surprise twist”. The paper says the Conservative party’s next leader will be between “hardliners” Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick.
The budget also dominates many of Thursday’s papers. The Guardian reports that the Institute of Fiscal Studies says Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s promise to end austerity will need “£25bn of tax rises”. The IFS says Chancellor Rachel Reeves faces a challenge of finding the tax increases, given Labour’s election manifesto which said it would not raise income tax, VAT and employees’ national insurance contributions.
The Financial Times splashes with a potential increase in employers’ national insurance contributions, after Sir Keir “ducked the question” put to him by opposition leader Rishi Sunak. The paper quotes the PM saying he will not be drawn on specific taxes. The FT adds that Labour’s election manifesto ruled out an increase.
The I headlines with workers getting the “right to flexible working under new Rayner law” and says employers must give one of eight reasons for refusing. The paper reports that flexible working can include starting later for childcare reasons and says this type of working will be the default where “practical”.
“Business fury at Labour’s revolution for workers” is the splash on the Daily Mail, referring to the party’s employment reforms. It reports bosses as saying the reforms will be “bad for jobs” and “inject fear” into the workplace. The reforms include default flexible working where possible, and will give workers the right to “sue for unfair dismissal” from their first day, the paper adds.
The Daily Telegraph goes with the warnoing from the Institute for Fiscal Studies to the chancellor that she must raise taxes by £25bn for Britain not to return to austerity. In its manifesto, Labour outlined plans for £9bn in tax rises, which the thinktank says is not enough. The paper reports the IFS as saying that even if Reeves carries out all the tax-raising polices outlined during elections, meeting her pledge to only borrow to invest, would rest on a “knife edge”.
“Swiftgate” reads the Sun’s front page, after Home Secretary Yvette Cooper received free Taylor Swift concert tickets. The paper says she and her husband Ed Balls attended the concert “days after” asking the police to give Swift “an unprecedented VIP police escort”. It adds that Cooper informed the Cabinet Office of her attendance on Wednesday.
The Times warns of the “£25bn tax bomb” needed if the chancellor is to honour the government’s pledge to not return to austerity. It says the IFS estimates Reeves will need to raise taxes by twice as much as the austerity budget in 2010, to ensure public spending rises. Details are expected to come in this month’s Budget. Also on the front page is the face-off between Badenoch and Jenrick as the Tory leadership race takes a “new twist”.
“Unmasked” is the headline for the Daily Mirror, after a judge ordered that the 17-year-old boy who killed his ex-girlfriend must be named. Logan MacPhail stabbed 15-year-old Holly Newton 36 times. The paper says the restriction on identifying him because of his age was lifted because of “public concern” over knife crime.
The Daily Express leads with pensioners hit with the winter fuel cuts now facing a “tax raid”. It says a freeze to tax-excluded income means more pensioners will have to “pay up” after the state pension increases.
The Daily Star spills the tea on what it calls “Britain’s biggest office skivers”. It claims that colleagues who offer to make you a cup of tea are not doing so out of the goodness of their hearts, but as an excuse to not work, and “accruing an extra eight days of holidays” in the process.
