The status of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine leads in Tuesday’s Metro, under the headline “Putin’s brutal peace offering”, as air strikes directed by the Kremlinb continue. The paper cites Ukrainian reports that the Russian military injured 74 people – among them 14 children – in strikes on homes and a hospital, on the same day as negotiators held ceasefire talks in Saudi Arabia.
The Daily Express carries a report from Kyiv, laying out the “brutal” realities of recent overnight Russian air strikes on Ukraine’s capital. The paper’s correspondent in Ukraine tells US President Donald Trump to “wake up” and recognise that “Ukrainians are the victims”, after a father and young daughter were recently killed by a drone strike.
The Bank of England has “dealt a blow” to Labour’s hopes for growth, the Times reports. The Bank’s governor warned on Monday that potential US tariffs and an ageing population were threatening the UK economy, part of an assessment of Britain’s economic outlook that the paper characterises as “bleak”.
The i Paper leads with disquiet among Labour MPs over the future of the “triple lock” on the state pension. The paper says people on the government’s backbenches are considering whether the government should ditch the “sacred cow of British politics”. Under the “triple lock” arrangement, the state pension goes up each year by either 2.5%, inflation or earnings growth – whichever is the highest figure.
The government has been accused by opposition MPs of turning a “blind eye to slavery” in solar panel acquisition, according to the Daily Mail. The paper says a bid to stop taxpayer money being given to a company where there is “credible evidence” of modern slavery in its supply chain is due to be rejected. The Mail says solar panels made this way could then end up on the “roofs of hundreds of schools and NHS sites”, adding that Labour plans to whip its MPs to strike down a Lords amendment to a bill in Parliament aimed at blocking this move.
Police have warned domestic abusers are driving more of their victims to suicide, according to reporting in the Guardian. A report quoted by the paper reveals that last year the number of suicides among victims exceeded the number killed by abusers for the second year running. The paper adds that there have been more than 1,000 domestic abuse-related deaths in the UK in that period, described as a “grim milestone” by a police chief.
A Reform UK donor was threatened with being stripped of his OBE over what the Daily Telegraph calls a “social media attack” on Sadiq Khan. The paper notes Charlie Mullins, a millionaire supporter of Nigel Farage’s party, was accused of bringing the honours system into disrepute. The Telegraph reports that the threat was over comments including during a “controversial post” about the London mayor, as well as “offensive jokes made online and in person”.
The US president also leads the Financial Times, but for different geopolitical reasons. The paper reports that Donald Trump has said a tariff of 25% would be imposed on any country importing oil from Venezuela. The FT says the move could cause disruption in markets and sharply raise taxes on goods from China and India imported by the US, as both countries import a significant amount of crude oil from the South American nation.
An exclusive in the Daily Mirror focuses on the victory for a Manchester Arena bomb campaigner who called for a change to the law to make venues safer from attack. Figen Murray, whose son was killed in the 2017 bombing, hailed the bill passing its final House of Commons hurdle as a “victory” for her son. The paper also reports the bill is due to become law in the coming weeks.
The Sun has accused the Duchess of Sussex of “exploiting her children” over putting them in a social media picture promoting her online clothes shop. Meghan Markle’s promotional efforts have been described as “tacky and desperate” by one expert quoted in the paper.
The Daily Star leads with TV presenter Alan Titchmarsh’s criticism of a fictional garden in the TV show Grantchester. According to the paper, “Titch’s wisteria hysteria” involved him accusing the ITV drama of “driving me nuts” with the appearance of blooming flowers outside the vicar’s cottage, accusing it of looking “awful” and fake.
