Sunak's pre-election speech and Nigeria 'mad for Meghan'
BBC News,Staff
A number of the papers focus on a speech due to be given by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday. The Daily Mail says he will warn that the UK is at a "crossroads" ahead of the next general election and a "defining period for the West". Elsewhere, an image of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex - on a visit to Nigeria - is accompanied by the question "Harry who?" and a follow up to say the country has "gone mad for Meghan".
Mr Sunak will say in his speech that "more will change in the next five years than in the last 30," the Times reports, adding that there will be a focus on the threat that "colluding authoritarian states" pose for the UK. The paper also goes big on a study which suggests that obese people are up to twice as likely to take time off work - "fuelling a worklessness crisis that is stifling Britain's economic growth".
"Britain safer under Tories for dangerous years ahead" is the Daily Telegraph's take on what the prime minister is expected to say - adding that the speech will see Mr Sunak "kickstart" his election campaign. There is also more coverage of the research around obese workers, with the paper citing experts as saying Britain's record "was among the worst of 28 countries - with six in 10 adults overweight or obese".
The prime minister's "bold vision" for the country is commended by the Daily Express, which says the speech will see Mr Sunak speak of "bold ideas" and "huge opportunities ... for British families". There is also a large image of Floella Benjamin smiling on the front page - the children’s television presenter and Liberal Democrat peer won the prestigious fellowship at the Bafta TV awards on Sunday.
The Daily Mirror's coverage of Mr Sunak is not about his expected speech - but an investigation, carried out by the paper, which suggests four Tory MPs "have declined to reveal whether they paid tax on a total £5m from the sale of public-funded homes". The paper tells the prime minister "it is time to get YOUR house in order", following the row over whether deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner paid the right amount of tax on the 2015 sale of her council house. She denies any wrongdoing.
Staying on the theme of politics, the i cites new data as revealing more than a million people have taken out mortgages in the past three years which will "last into their last 60s". A former pensions minister tells the paper borrowers are at risk of poverty in old age. Elsewhere, there is another spot for the Bafta TV awards - the BBC's Happy Valley and Netflix's Top Boy triumphed, after winning two awards each, the i writes.
An interview with the president of the Trades Union Congress leads the Guardian - with Matt Wrack telling the paper that new Labour MP Natalie Elphicke's support for anti-strike laws should be “incompatible” with the party whip. There is also an image of Manchester United WFC fans, jubilant as the team picked up their first Women's FA Cup trophy on Sunday - beating Tottenham Hotspur 4-0.
A report about the war in Ukraine sits atop the Financial Times, with Russian forces said to be pushing "farther into the Kharkiv region". The business paper quotes a top Ukrainian military commander as saying the situation in the region has "significantly worsened".
The Metro reports on claims that victims of the contaminated blood scandal - where more than 30,000 people in the UK were infected with HIV and Hepatitis C after being given contaminated blood products during the 1970s and 1980s - were compared by experts to "laboratory chimpanzees".
"Summer like it hot" is the Daily Star's main headline, with a report about this week's weather. There will be storms in the UK, the paper warns, but then "scorchio" temperatures of up to 24C.
A number of the front pages feature Rishi Sunak's speech, due to take place on Monday. The Daily Telegraph focuses on the prime minister's claim that - as the world enters one of its most dangerous eras - Britain would be safer under the Conservatives than under Labour over the next Parliament. The paper says Mr Sunak will highlight "dividing lines" between the two parties, including what he sees as Labour's "failure" to match his commitment to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by the end of the decade.
The Times concentrates on Mr Sunak's warning about autocratic states. He is expected to say collusion between China, Russia, North Korea and Iran poses the most dangerous threat since the end of the Cold War - and the West must face up to these adversaries.
The Daily Mail says it will be a "landmark" speech, highlighting the challenges of AI, migration and "authoritarian states".
Reuters
The Guardian carries a warning from England's former chief medical officer, Dame Sally Davies, that Covid-19 will "look minor" compared with increasingly drug-resistant superbugs. Dame Sally - who is now the UK's special envoy on antimicrobial resistance - says the issue is more "acute" than climate change. It would be a "disastrous picture," she says, if the world fails to tackle the problem. The paper says drug resistant infections already kill at least 1.2 million people a year.
The main story in the Times is a new study of workers across Europe which shows that people take more sick days the heavier they are. The research - carried out by academics in Austria - looked at data from more than 122,000 people across 26 European countries. It found that those who were obese were twice as likely to take time off than people who were a healthy weight.
The paper argues that with 2.8 million people signed off work in the UK, absenteeism among people who are overweight is fuelling a "worklessness crisis" in Britain which is stifling economic growth. The government has announced measures to encourage people back to work.
According to the Guardian, Sir Keir Starmer is under pressure from the Trades Union Congress (TUC) over Natalie Elphicke's defection from the Conservatives. The union's president Matt Wrack is reported to have written to the Labour leader at the weekend, saying Ms Elphicke's support for anti-strike laws - seen as recently as March - should be "incompatible" with the party whip.
The Daily Telegraph says it understands that the Lib Dems have been reported to the equalities watchdog for allegedly deselecting a candidate because of his Christian faith. David Campanale, an Anglican former BBC journalist, is set to be replaced as the prospective MP candidate for Sutton and Cheam after allegations he did not sufficiently disclose his faith during the selection process - a claim which he denies. A Lib Dem spokesman said the party was home to people of all faiths, and none.
And the i cites new data revealing that more than a million people have taken out mortgages in the past three years, which will "last into their late 60s". A former pensions minister tells the paper borrowers are at risk of poverty in old age.
Reuters
