Browsing: Politics

Tuesday’s front pages are dominated by two polar opposite stories: Israel’s ground invasion of Lebanon and the Strictly Come Dancing bullying report.

The Strictly Come Dancing report leads many of the tabloid newspapers after a report was issued – and an apology from the BBC – into bullying allegations on the hit TV show. In 2023 Amanda Abbington put in a formal complaint against her Strictly dance partner Giovanni Pernice.

The report found some of her complaints to be true, but Pernice has been cleared of the most serious allegations. Complaints of verbal bullying and harassment were upheld, but claims of physical aggression were not.

Israel’s ground invasion of Lebanon makes up the rest of the UK front pages this morning, as editors speculate as to whether this is the start of an all-out regional war.

Monday’s UK newspaper front pages cover a wide variety of domestic and international stories. The most notable is the rising escalation in the Middle East as Israeli airstrikes hit Yemen and tanks began to build up on the Lebanon border.

A little closer to home, the Conservative Party leadership contest is in full swing, with many of the hopefuls reacting to the latest extreme comment from Kemi Badenoch.

Ongoing speculation over the upcoming October Budget continues to make the headlines as does previews of Boris Johnson’s book regarding his time in office.

Away from politics, a handful of tabloids lead with the latest showbiz news.

Sunday’s front pages feature a wide variety of international and domestic stories – some feature ongoing topics whilst other papers lead with exclusives. 

Several newspapers lead on UK politics as the Conservative Party leadership candidates offer up their vision of the future of the party – and how to be the most effective opposition to the Labour government. The Conservative Party conference is taking place in Birmingham and who is chosen to lead the party will define the party going into the future. They have candidates stretching from centrist-conservatism to right-wing conspiracy theorists. 

“In the standard textbook model that Reeves would have learned at Oxford and the London School of Economics in the late 1990s, business investment is a reward for governments that behave nicely. Investors want low tax rates, flexible markets and, above all, stability. Any hint of an increase in borrowing and they will spook, worrying that government debt will spiral out of control. In this kind of model, even austerity can be expansionary, as it demonstrates to the business community that the fiscal authorities are really committed, even at the expense of electoral pain.”

“Labour will never have a better chance to make big, ambitious changes. Rather than playing up the gloom, the government could be telling a positive story about the benefits a pro-growth agenda will bring – as they have with planning reforms. Just as building more houses spreads ownership, jobs and opportunities, boosting public sector productivity would result in a leaner, more effective state that better serves British interests. Instead, we are getting a warm-up for a much more predictable second act: Tax rises are coming, look behind you!”

“While Reeves may have been shocked by the detail of the public finances, and her outrage at Tory mismanagement wholly justified, her performance was largely planned in advance. The broad fiscal picture was known before the election. This was all part of a political strategy to temper public expectations, affix blame to the Conservatives and instil patience in her own MPs. It is also likely that the tax rises she implied were unnecessary during the election, but will announce in October, have long been known to her.”