The Sunday People also leads the way with the attack on Magdeburg and alleged missed opportunities by the police. The photo on the front page shows the mass of floral tributes that have been laid out in the city. [BBC]
The Sunday Times says Germany has been given “several warnings” by Saudi Arabia about the “market killer”. It also features a story about the ongoing Guinness shortages in Britain after the drink took off among younger drinkers. [BBC]
The Sunday Telegraph leads with a story on how a new ‘grocery tax’, designed to boost net zero targets, could drive up household grocery bills. [BBC]
The Observer says ministers are resisting attempts to block the world’s richest man Elon Musk from handing millions to British reform leader Nigel Farage. [BBC]
The Mail on Sunday calls Chancellor Rachel Reeves “the Grinch” and claims the rise in National Employer Insurance announced in the Budget has effectively led to the government “stealing” 45% of charity donations. [BBC]
The Sunday Express has a story about how Britain will only have “one aircraft carrier” to deploy if the country is attacked due to “budget cuts and a shortage of sailors”. [BBC]
N-Dubz star Tulisa has spoken to the Sunday Mirror about suffering from anxiety attacks in the recent series of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! [BBC]
And the Daily Star Sunday leads with the claim that Ronnie Kray “murdered Marilyn Monroe”. The paper says the Kray twins’ former PR ‘believes he’ has heard a confession from the infamous London gangster. [BBC]
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Most newspapers on Sunday reported that the Saudi doctor, suspected of driving a car into a busy Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, had warned on social media that something big would happen. ‘Free to kill’ is the Sun’s headline on Sunday. The Mail on Sunday describes him as a soft-spoken psychiatrist who was unfailingly polite in his brief conversations with his neighbors, while expressing a kaleidoscope of paranoid views in his social media posts.
According to The Observer, the government is resisting demands to rush through measures to stop Elon Musk handing over millions of pounds to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party. The newspaper says ministers are facing calls to urgently limit the amount of money a foreigner can donate through their British companies, but there are concerns in the government that any hasty move could give Farage the opportunity to claim his party has been sabotaged by the establishment.
In his column in the Sunday Times, Rod Liddle criticizes those calling for stricter rules to prevent Elon Musk from donating to Reform. He says he is astounded by what he calls the belief among our Liberal elite that challenges to the established Conservative Labor order must be strangled from birth.
The Sunday Telegraph says the government’s plan to introduce a levy on packaging could cost an average household up to £56 a year. The newspaper says that under the scheme, retailers and manufacturers will have to pay a fee per tonne of packaging material they use and that the cost of plastic packaging would be higher than that of paper or cardboard. A government spokesperson said it is committed to tackling our throwaway society and putting an end to the avalanche of waste filling the streets.
The Mail’s front page reports that 45p of every pound donated to charity will now go to the government due to tax rises announced in the October Budget. The shadow paymaster general, Richard Holden, tells the newspaper that Chancellor Rachel Reeves is a modern-day Grinch: the mean-spirited Doctor Seuss character who steals an entire town’s Christmas gifts. The Treasury said the tax regime for charities is among the most generous in the world.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting tells the Times he feels both pride and shame after visiting a number of emergency departments in recent days to see first-hand the pressure the NHS is under. He says he is proud of the people who work in the NHS and ashamed after seeing patients being treated on trolleys in the corridors. Streeting says the healthcare system is “broken but not defeated” and sees a path to recovery in the new year.
The Sunday Express claims that Britain could deploy just one of its two aircraft carriers if we were attacked by a hostile power like Russia. The newspaper says budget cuts and a shortage of sailors mean one of the carriers, Queen Elizabeth, will essentially be left at port, from where it would require a full six months’ notice to prepare for action . A Royal Navy spokesperson said it was fully committed to the operation of both airlines.
And finally, the Telegraph says the King has been named the second hardest-working royal this year, despite undergoing cancer treatment. He took part in 186 engagements, while his sister, the Princess Royal, was the first with 217.
