'Tax rises needed to plug £35bn gap' and 'Putin breaks Trump's 'ceasefire"
Several of today's papers cover a warning form the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) of a funding gap in UK finances ahead of the chancellor's Budget. The i Paper leads with the £35bn "gap", saying tax rises will be "needed to plug" it. It attributes this to "high inflation and the UK's defence spending pledge". The Treasury declined to comment on speculation surrounding the Budget. The paper also covers the deadly attacks on Riyadh airport, saying they have alarmed "Saudi elite - and Washington". According to The i, the BBC will fill its "license fee hole" by selling Blue Planet III and launching a "new dating show for right-wing men".
Atop the Daily Telegraph is the headline "Putin breaks Trump's 'ceasefire'." Russia attacked a power plant in Ukraine "just hours" after the US President "claimed" he had brokered a ceasefire on energy sites, it reports. Like The i, the Telegraph also writes that "Healey faces £35bn hole in Budget", saying the warning comes from "Britains top economic think tank". The paper also covers a pledge from Reform UK to ban asylum applications for five years.
The Guardian also covers the UK's finances in its top story, writing that the heat pump subsidy will be "cut to fund defence plan". On US President Donald Trump's reported ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine on energy sites, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is quoted as saying the deal was "news to me".
The Times notes that the IFS has said the tax rises needed to fill the funding gap would be equivalent to raising every tax bracket by three percentage points. It leads on its own investigation, which it says reveals that the government is "paying out sickness benefits to almost 2 million people without knowing whether they still qualify". It echoes the Guardian's coverage that Zelensky was unaware of the "energy truce".
"Lettuce Liz iceberg ahead!" warns the Daily Star, saying a "Truss-style crash can happen again". The chancellor has been "urged to steady the ship", it writes.
Leading the Metro are comments from Prime Minister Andy Burnham's that Russia played a role in Brexit. He is the "first PM to confirm Kremlin meddling", it says.
The Financial Times reports that the US has threatened a "block on Kyiv's arms in push to halt Russian refinery attacks". American officials have been lobbying European capitals and Kyiv, according to European officials quoted by the paper. It also reports that oil executives have pulled out of an energy conference in Riyadh after the attacks on its airport.
The Daily Mirror covers the fatal tiger attack in Yorkshire, saying a "hero tried to save" the man who died. The woman "fought desperately to hold the man back as he climbed into enclosure". But another person who was at the zoo tells the paper that she "was not strong enough".
The Independent uses its cover to celebrate its 40th anniversary. "Independent then. Independent now" reads its headline.
The Daily Express leads on an investigation into rickshaws in Westminster, saying "honest pedicab riders" have been "bullied out of the market by an organised group from Romania". It quotes Reform UK mayoral candidate Laila Cunningham in its headline as saying this is a "sign of broken Britain".
The Sun headlines with "BBC in Strictly trans ban row". It says the organisation is "embroiled in a censorship row" after editing out a slogan supporting transgender women from a t-shirt worn by star Bethany Antonia. A BBC spokesperson said: "As is standard practice on any entertainment show on the BBC and in line with our editorial guidelines, appropriate steps are taken to reduce the inclusion of any overt branding or slogans that may be present, regardless of the wording or statement in question."
