The Bank of England’s decision to raise interest rates is the lead story on the front page of the Financial Times. In its Thursday update, the Bank said inflation is now not forecast to fall below the target of 2% until 2025 – but it reaffirmed its prediction that the UK will avoid a recession. The US accusing South Africa of covertly backing Russia’s war effort in Ukraine also features prominently.
The i also leads with Thursday’s economics news, but instead goes in on the political implications. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has admitted that it is “not automatic” that the government will meet its pledge to halve inflation by the end of the year. The paper also says there is pressure on him and Rishi Sunak to cut taxes in order to alleviate cost of living pressures on families.
Interest pain isn’t over yet, the Mirror reports. Higher rates are yet to fully filter through to households and the economy, the Bank warned on Thursday, estimating that just a third of the impact has passed through so far. It means homeowners on fixed-rate deals will feel the impact when it is time for them to renew rather than now.
The Times also leads on inflation, but focuses on the role food prices are playing. The government has stopped short of accusing supermarkets of price gouging, but the Treasury held a call with the bosses of major food retailers yesterday urging them to do more to help people with basic living costs. It points to data showing the price of a pint of milk has risen 40% to 70p in the last year.
“Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!” is the headline in the Daily Express. It says some economists have “attacked” the Bank’s for its “inaccurate” predictions of how the economy would perform. The paper says the “blistering criticism” comes after another day of bad cost of living news for the country.
A government minister tells the Telegraph he wants to see people who left the jobs market during the pandemic return to work. Mel Stride says there are 400,000 fewer workers now than there was before Covid. The work and pensions secretary says the government will have more freedom to cut taxes if the labour force swells.
For a second day in a row, the Sun leads with reported tensions between daytime television presenters Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby. According to the paper, relations between the This Morning hosts have suffered in recent months. Mr Schofield has released a statement to the Sun, admitting that the “last few weeks haven’t been easy for either of us”.
Investigators think they have found DNA proof that big cats roam the British countryside, the Metro reports. The findings come from a new documentary called Panthera Britannia Declassified. Beyonce, whose Renaissance world tour has begun, is the main image on the front.
The Daily Star also leads on purported new evidence of black panthers in Britain, under the headline “Gotcha!”. Even more tantalisingly, a trail in the top right hand corner of the front page promises “Free witch’s spells inside”.
Economics and the cost of living dominate Friday’s front pages.
“How can we trust the Bank of England?” asks the Daily Express after it says the Bank’s predictions for a recession and soaring unemployment were, as it puts it, “wrong, wrong, wrong”. A professor of accounting, Richard Murphy, has written in the Mirror arguing the Bank’s decision to raise interest rates was “cruel and pointless” – saying “it takes at least 18 months to have any impact on inflation”, which he says is expected to be 2% by 2024 as it is. But the Daily Telegraph, in its editorial, says “this is monetary policy returning to normal” – arguing “Britain can no longer rely on money-printing and ultra-low rates to create an illusion of prosperity”.
The i newspaper says the government is resisting calls from Tory MPs to cut taxes to help those struggling financially. The Telegraph highlights a comment by the Work and Pensions secretary, Mel Stride, who says the basic rate of income tax could be cut by 2p if people who left their jobs during the pandemic returned to work. And the Times says supermarkets have promised prices have peaked and “will start falling significantly in the coming months”.
The Daily Mail says ministers have been accused of appeasing militant unions by nationalising a fourth rail operator. It says the drivers’ union Aslef has run the operator into the ground and asks “who is REALLY running the railways?”
Up to a million extra people may have come into the UK last year, according to the Telegraph. It says ministers are “braced” for the official figures, which are due later this month. The paper says Tory MPs want the government – which has promised to bring down net migration – to tighten controls on visas for lower-skilled workers.
The Guardian reports that people with links to organised crime and sex offenders are still joining the police. It says the Inspector of Constabulary, Matt Parr, has told the Home Office he disagrees with the vetting decisions on 13 new recruits – including one with a history of domestic abuse against multiple partners. The National Police Chiefs Council says swift action has since been taken.
The Metro says DNA analysis of fur left on barbed wire proves a panther-like species exists in the UK. The paper says the discovery was made next to where a sheep had been “savaged”. The Daily Star leads on the same story; its headline – “Gotcha!”
