Fears within Downing Street of a possible coup against the prime minister are highlighted by the Guardian, which says No 10 has launched an “extraordinary operation” to protect Sir Keir Starmer.
Cabinet ministers are described as interpreting the intervention as a “stop Wes” strategy following reports that the health secretary, Wes Streeting, has 50 frontbenchers willing to stand down if the Budget lands badly and the prime minister refuses to resign.
The Times says Sir Keir has told ministers that any attempted coup would destabilise Britain’s standing on the financial markets and its relationship with foreign governments.
Yesterday’s economic data is picked over by a number of papers. The Financial Times suggests the rise in unemployment – to 5% – has dealt a “fresh blow” to the chancellor ahead of what it calls a “crunch” Budget.
The Daily Mail says Rachel Reeves has been blamed for presiding over a “jobs bloodbath” after raising employers’ National Insurance contributions last year. And the Daily Express says the Conservatives have accused the government of being “too weak” to tackle the welfare bill, after figures revealed four million people are claiming benefits without having to look for work.
The Daily Telegraph says the BBC’s outgoing director general, Tim Davie, has issued a “full-mouthed defence” of the corporation, in his first public comments since announcing his resignation.
It reports that Davie blamed “enemies” of the BBC for stoking allegations of bias and declared the broadcaster “the very best of society” in a speech the paper says “alarmed those demanding root-and-branch changes” to the corporation.
The mother of a 15-year-old boy who was stabbed to death by a former friend at their school in Sheffield has told the Daily Mirror she wants to meet her son’s killer.
Mohammed Umar Khan has been detained for at least 16 years for murdering Harvey Willgoose in February. Caroline Willgoose says she hopes Khan’s apparent lack of remorse “is the mask of a teenager going through hell” and she believes he’s “been let down too”.
The Mirror applauds her willingness to consider restorative justice, arguing “compassion is not a form of weakness”.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: BBC
