Several papers focus on the war in Ukraine, as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer arrives in Washington for talks with US President Joe Biden. Foreign Secretary David Lammy tells the Daily Telegraph the UK and US must give Ukraine the weapons it needs to help it win, adding that the coming months will be “crucial” for Kyiv. Starmer and Biden’s meeting is expected to cover whether to give Ukraine permission to fire Western long-range weapons into Russia. The US has so far held back permission, the Telegraph says.
The Times leads on a warning from Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying the UK and US will be “at war” with Russia if they allow Ukraine to use their long-range missiles across the border. It would “change the very nature of the conflict”, Putin says, forcing Moscow to respond.
Starmer has responded directly to Putin’s threats, the Guardian reports, by saying Russia started the war and so could end it at any time. “Ukraine has the right to self-defence,” he told reporters while en route to Washington. Meanwhile, the paper’s main picture is of tech billionaire Jared Isaacman completing the first ever commercial spacewalk on Thursday.
The i newspaper calls the spacewalk a “giant leap for… commercial space exploration”. Its main story focuses on the news that junk food adverts are going to be banned from TV before 21:00 from October next year. Campaigners have welcomed the move, which they say will “shield children”, the paper says.
The Daily Mail is critical of the ban, saying it marks Starmer ushering in “a new era of the nanny state”. Critics say it will “do little to tackle Britain’s bulging waistlines”, the paper says. And in its editorial, the paper asks: “Do we really want to be a country where Mr Kipling can no longer advertise cake at teatime and Harry Ramsden is barred from promoting fish suppers?” It says the government’s definition of junk food risks being “as complicated as the nutrition details on packaging”.
Broadcaster Esther Rantzen, who is a prominent campaigner for making assisted dying legal, is pictured on the front page of the Daily Express. The paper leads on findings from a so-called “citizen’s jury” assembled by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. That group said they were in favour of assisted dying in certain circumstances after three months of deliberations.
American rock star Jon Bon Jovi is described as a “guitar hero” by the Metro, after he helped a woman in distress who was on the ledge of a bridge in Nashville. The singer was preparing to film a music video nearby when he spotted the woman, the Metro reports. CCTV caught the moment on camera and it has been shared by police.
Jon Bon Jovi also makes the front of the Daily Star – but its top story is on comments by Oxford University biodiversity expert Baroness Kathy Willis, who reportedly says “a gentle rub on a wooden chair” or touching other wood surfaces can help induce calmness and tranquillity. “Hug a chair leg,” the paper says in its thought for the day.
The Daily Mirror’s top story is on the amnesty scheme for “zombie” knives, that allow retailers to receive compensation for surrendering the weapons. The paper has spoken to families who have lost loved ones to knife crime. One family says it’s “unfair and perverse” that firms who previously sold knives involved in killings can now receive compensation.
Finally, the Financial Times focuses on the state of the UK’s finances, after the government’s official forecaster the Office for Budget Responsibility published a new report on Thursday. The OBR is warning the UK’s national debt is on an “unsustainable” upward path – and in almost any scenario the government will likely have to raise taxes or cut spending. The FT points out the intervention comes as the government prepares to make “painful choices” in its first Budget next month.
