A variety of stories lead Tuesday’s papers. The Guardian says Labour wants to give local development authorities in England “sweeping powers” to buy land at a “fraction of its potential cost” if they want to build on it. It says that, under the plans, officials could use compulsory purchase orders to buy land without having to include a premium currently granted to land on which a developer hopes to secure planning permission.
The Financial Times says the proposals are part of Labour’s plans to ease the housing crisis and go “far beyond recent government moves to allow ministers to make landowners sell holdings more cheaply in limited cases”. It adds that housebuilding is “set to be a big theme in the next election”.
Households are to be urged to recycle less in order to cut waste, according to the i. The paper says too many non-recyclable items – including plastic bags, toothpaste tubes, and crisp packets – are being placed in recycling bins, contaminating the recycle process, and that new advice will say they should be binned instead.
The Daily Express says high street banks are being accused of “ripping off” loyal customers by offering “unjustifiably low” returns on savings despite recent rises in interest rates. The paper quotes former pensions minister Sir Steve Webb calling for “effective and enforced action” by regulators.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has backed an academic whose invitation to speak at the Oxford Union has sparked a row. Professor Kathleen Stock, a key gender-critical figure, is due to speak at the Union on Tuesday, but her invitation has led to protests. Mr Sunak tells the paper “university should be an environment where debate is supported, not stifled”.
The Times says the Cabinet Office is “resolute in its view” that it does not need to provide Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp messages in full to the Covid-19 inquiry, which is due to get under way in the next fortnight. The inquiry has requested access to messages exchanged between the then-prime minister and 40 other people involved in the government’s response to the pandemic. The paper says ministers are set for a “bitter legal battle” over the issue.
Former This Morning presenter Eamonn Holmes has waded into the row surrounding the show, the Metro reports. It comes after Phillip Schofield, who resigned last week after admitting to having an affair with a younger colleague, put out a statement denying claims that the culture on the show had become “toxic”. The paper says pressure on ITV bosses was already building and that Holmes’s intervention will only deepen the crisis.
The Mirror carries a call from the mother of 10-year-old Jack Lis, who was mauled to death by an XL Bully dog, for a new law to prevent more children from dying. Emma Whitfield, 32, tells the paper: “The government needs to act now”.
And the Star says “we’ve been drinking beer all wrong” and that, according to a beer historian, having a large, foamy head on a pint is “better for your belly”.
