A variety of stories feature on Saturday’s front pages. The Financial Times leads with the news that pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has cancelled a £450m manufacturing plant in the UK after “months of wrangling over state support for the project”. The paper says Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer wanted to reduce the £90m in public money that had been promised by the previous government. It says the news has dealt a “blow to the government’s growth agenda”, adding that the plant was going to “make the next generation of flu vaccines and help UK resilience against future pandemics”.
The i reports that 57% of UK voters back a youth mobility scheme that would allow under-30s to live and work in the EU, with just 14% against. It says half are also in favour of closer trade ties with the EU, compared to 33% against, though adds that there is growing scepticism about the UK’s membership of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Writing for the Daily Express to mark the fifth anniversary of Brexit, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accuses Sir Keir of wanting to “tie Britain up in EU red tape, give away fishing rights and edge back to the freedom of movement of people”. She pledges to “honour the will of the British people”, adding: “I am committed to fighting to defend our freedoms and protecting Brexit”.
People on long-term sickness benefits will be required to work and may see their benefits cut as part of an “overhaul” of welfare being planned by ministers, according to the Times. The paper says Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall wants to encourage people back to work to “control a ballooning welfare bill”. In an interview for the paper, former Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair argues that a digital ID system and facial recognition cameras could help tackle crime and illegal immigration – and in the process help the opponents of populism defeat it.
The Daily Telegraph quotes US President Donald Trump saying he “absolutely” will impose trade tariffs on the European Union and accusing the bloc of “treating us so terribly”. Trump has already announced 25% tariffs on goods coming into the US from neighbours Mexico and Canada as well as 10% tariffs on China. The paper says the measures have prompted “fears of a global trade war and inflation crisis”.
Trump has “sparked a new gold rush” as American investors spooked by the prospect of tariffs “snaffle all of Britain’s bullion”, according to the Daily Star.
The Daily Mail says Prince Andrew “faces fresh pressure” after it emerged he e-mailed Jeffrey Epstein telling him that the two would “play some more soon” weeks after he has claimed to have cut ties with the paedophile financier. The paper further quotes Andrew telling Epstein to “keep in close touch” and says the messages, which were revealed in court documents, suggest “Andrew may have lied in his infamous Newsnight interview”.
And the Guardian carries a piece from its reporter in Gaza, Malak Tantesh, who was among the thousands of people able to return to their homes in northern Gaza this week following the ceasefire deal. She describes an exhausting walk to Gaza City, much of it without water, and walking through “a ghost town” in what used to be a “fancy enclave for the city’s rich”. Of arriving at her family’s home, she writes: “The only things still standing were the trunks of a walnut tree, and some olive trees that used to be in our yard. Our home was a three-storey building, and the levels had collapsed on top of each other like layers in a cake. Nothing had survived. My memories, my family’s memories and everything we owned have all been crushed and buried.”
A variety of stories feature on Saturday’s front pages.
The Financial Times leads on AstraZeneca’s decision to scrap plans for a new vaccine manufacturing plant in Liverpool, calling it “a blow to the government’s growth agenda”. The paper says executives have warned that policies pursued by the government will make the UK a less attractive place to invest.
The Times says it has seen letters which show that AstraZeneca asked for assurances about the plant as soon as Labour took office, but did not get a result for months. The Daily Mail calls the news a “sharp setback” for the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves. The paper’s City editor, Alex Brummer, says AstraZeneca was a hero of the pandemic and that failing to support its project “makes a nonsense” of the government’s goal of turning Britain into a science powerhouse.
Ministers are working on an overhaul of welfare which could mean the long-term sick are required to look for work, according to the Times. The paper predicts that hundreds of thousands of people might have their sickness benefits cut. It says Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer could be pitched into a bitter fight with his party, with changes likely to anger Labour’s base.
The Daily Mail says Prince Andrew “faces fresh pressure” after an email emerged undermining his claims about when he broke contact with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. It calls the revelations a “bombshell” and in its editorial says they further underline how the Duke of York is a “dangerous liability” to the monarchy.
The Sun speaks of a “humiliation” for Prince Andrew, while the Daily Mirror concludes that “the more we learn, the worse it appears to get for the Prince and the Royal Family”.
The front page of the Guardian features an account by its reporter in Gaza of her return to the territory. Malak Tantesh says she felt she could have “flown away with joy” when the road was finally opened. But she describes the dust, and exhaustion of the journey, and says that when she realised the family home was now rubble it was like being “stabbed in the heart”. “My memories, and everything we owned”, she says, “have all been crushed and buried”.
York Minster faced a backlash from parishioners over plans to hold a metal gig in its nave
The Daily Telegraph carries an article by Sir Peter Lampl, founder of the Sutton Trust, who the paper describes as “Britain’s most eminent social mobility expert”. Sir Peter, who attended the same grammar school as Sir Keir, accuses the prime minister of denying poorer students the opportunities by imposing VAT on private schools. A government spokesman said the tax change would provide extra money for state schools, where 94% of children are educated.
The Guardian reports on problems surrounding a rock concert scheduled to take place in York Minster in April. It’s just the latest attempt by churches to open up to more people, but parishioners have complained after discovering that two members of the band, Plague of Angels, used to belong to Cradle of Filth, a metal group whose merchandise included a lewd t-shirt featuring a nun. One churchgoer said the concert was an insult. A cathedral spokesman said the event, intended to showcase the Minster’s refurbished organ, would “align with its values”. The band’s guitarist apologised and confirmed that the two members deeply regret their involvement in Cradle of Filth.
