Several newspapers moved quickly late last night to get the news of counter-terrorism officers investigating a fire at the home of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on their front pages. Among them, on a rare day with hard news on its front page, is the Daily Star – which pictures the scene behind the police barriers during the day as the inquiry got under way.
The same terror probe into the blaze at Starmer’s north London home also leads The Daily Telegraph, which has close-up photographs of the damage to the front door. The paper reports that police are investigating whether an arson attack at a second home in London linked to Starmer is related. Downing Street said they won’t comment further on a “live investigation”.
The Daily Mirror describes the fire as “a mystery blaze” in its front-page coverage and interviews neighbours who were “woken by loud noises in the early hours”.
Even before news of the fire, the PM was destined to be featuring on most front pages after a day in which he outlined his government’s new policy on immigration. The Daily Express, which often highlights the issue in its political coverage, shows it is yet to be convinced with the headline “We have it all before but now it is time to deliver”.
Care homes are “in despair”, reports the i Paper, as it highlights one of the new policy plans to stop recruiting workers from abroad. The paper reports pharmacies and the wider care industry are warning of “crippling effects” to services if visas for migrant care workers are scrapped.
The Daily Mail leads with the Conservative reaction as Tory politicians describe the prime minister as “Starmer Chameleon” for his plans. The paper’s sub-headline says the policy “goes against everything he’s ever believed in”, despite Starmer’s insistence to the contrary in his speech introducing the policy.
Starmer’s description of Britain as an “island of strangers” leads The Guardian, which reports his announcement has triggered a backlash from MPs that say his comments echo far-right rhetoric. Responding to The Guardian, the prime minister said he wouldn’t “denigrate” the contribution of migrants, but that they must “learn the language and integrate” once in the UK.
The Times is the only paper that covers the story with a picture of migrants, although it chooses three young men who have just been picked up in Dover after crossing the Channel rather than the legal migration that the PM ‘s policy is tackling. It also finds room to report for the latest in the US-China trade talks, saying that President Trump want to re-establish a “very, very good relationship” with China.
The US and China “have agreed a ceasefire in their trade war”, according to the Financial Times. It leads on the two superpowers slashing tariffs on each other’s goods for 90 days. US tariffs on Chinese imports will be cut from 145% to 30%. Chinese tariffs on US imports will be cut from 125% to 10%. “Markets are defaulting to assuming we’re now in a 10-30 world: 10% [tariffs] on most of the world, 30% on China,” says Ajay Rajadhyaksha of Barclays.
Meanwhile, Metro leads with the sentencing of a Bulgarian spy ring to a total of 50 years in jail. The six members, which the headline dubs ‘Putin’s Minions’, were “paid to plot the kidnap, murder of smearing of Vladimir Putins enemies in the UK”. For three years, the group passed intel to Russian agents from a home in Great Yarmouth.
