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Much of Thursday’s headlines focused on the government’s plans to streamline the UK’s asylum process. About 12,000 people from five nations – Afghanistan, Eritrea, Libya, Syria and Yemen – who applied before last July will now be considered for refugee status without face-to-face interviews. Instead, decisions will be made after they have completed a 10-page Home Office questionnaire. The Daily Express reports they are among the 92,000 cases the Home Office aims to process by the end of the year in a bid to reduce the backlog of asylum applications.
The Daily Mail reports criticism from the Tory backbenchers in what the paper’s headline calls the “amnesty” row. The story explains where the word comes from, saying the government’s plan has been “called amnesty in all but name” by the Migration Watch campaign chairman.
The Times also carried the story on its front page, pointing out that the paper first reported the plan in December, but the paper’s main focus was on reports that the NHS wanted to double the number of medical school places available. An NHS workforce plan due to be published next month warns that without radical action, staff shortages in the health service will more than quadruple over the next 15 years, the newspaper reports. The plan concluded that a huge expansion of training would be needed, including 15,000 medical school places a year, potentially requiring six new medical schools and more than 50,000 nursing places, the paper said.
Elsewhere in the NHS newspaper i reports that the Royal College of Nursing has been accused by other health unions of breaking ranks with their fellow strikers. RCN representatives met ministers on Tuesday in a bid to resolve a long-running dispute over pay. Other health unions were not invited to participate in the discussions. The i reports that the Prime Minister has personally intervened in the row over concerns about the impact on emergency, cancer and intensive care if RCN members go ahead with their planned 48-hour strike next week.
The Daily Mirror publishes an exclusive from the front line in Ukraine on its front page. The newspaper obtained interviews with members of the Wagner Group – a Russian mercenary organization – who were captured by Ukrainian forces. The Mirror says it believes it is the first time a British newspaper has interviewed captured Wagner group prisoners.
Also carrying an exclusive on its front page is the Guardian. The paper revealed that pollutants known as “perpetual chemicals” – which build up in the body, may be toxic and do not break down in the environment – were found in high levels at thousands of sites across the UK and Europe.
Pun of the day goes to the headline writers at Metro. The newspaper reports that a shopper was stopped at the till in Lidl and banned from buying 100 cucumbers. It may be one of the supermarkets that has not yet imposed official limits on the purchase of certain fruit or vegetables, but the bulk buying proved enough for Lidl staff to step in and refuse to buy in bulk. “Get her salad” is the witty summary of the scene from Metro.
The Daily Star took matters into its own hands, with the paper’s “tomato correspondent” campaigning outside Westminster, urging MPs to find a solution to food shortages caused after extreme weather hit crops in Spain and North Africa.
Daily Telegraph cartoonist Matt poked fun at the story, depicting a butcher offering a “meat alternative to veggie burgers”. The paper builds on a warning from BT about the impact that an increase in corporation tax would have on the UK economy. The telecoms giant warned that Britain could be sent in a “dramatically anti-investment direction” if the tax is increased from 19% to 25% by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt in April, the newspaper said.
And the Financial Times reports that multinational tobacco company Philip Morris International has admitted it would “rather keep” its business in Russia than sell it under the Kremlin’s strict terms. The paper said it highlighted the challenges facing companies trying to leave the country without taking a huge financial hit.
A number of documents lead to the government’s plan to reduce the backlog of asylum applications by scrapping interviews for some migrants from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Syria, Yemen and Libya. The Daily Mail says that the fast lane is called amnesty in all but name – and warns it has been told by a senior source that the change will encourage more people from the five countries to come to the UK.
But the Daily Express says the plan is a practical solution to a long-standing problem.
“Just take NO for an answer” is the Sun’s message to Shamima Begum after the former Islamic State group member lost a legal bid to regain her British citizenship. The newspaper reported that her lawyers boasted that the battle was “not over yet” and that the appeals would cost the taxpayer millions.
An editorial in the Times said the government had yet to provide a convincing answer as to why Shamima Begum should not be returned to the UK or what threat she still posed that could not be countered by close surveillance. The paper acknowledges that keeping an eye on her would take scarce security resources, but adds that punishing people by leaving them stateless in the desert is not the answer to terrorism.
Ms Begum was 15 when she joined the self-proclaimed Islamic State group in 2015.
According to the Guardian, pollutants known as “permanent chemicals” – which accumulate in the body, may be toxic and do not break down in the environment – have been found in high levels in the UK and Europe. The document says the chemicals – prized for their non-stick and cleaning properties – have made their way into soil water and sediment from consumer products, firefighting foam, waste and industrial processes. In the UK, the highest level was found in a chemical plant discharge into the River Wyre near Blackpool.
Finally, almost all newspapers feature images of the late musician David Bowie in some of his extraordinary costumes, now gifted to the nation. The Daily Mirror says his personal archive is donating a collection of his manuscripts, letters, sheet music, costumes, photographs, music videos, album covers and awards to the Victoria and Albert Museum, which will open the David Bowie Center for the Study of the Performing Arts in 2025
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