Newspaper headlines: EU olive branch and PM targets 'sick note culture'

Rishi Sunak's pledge to end what he calls the UK's "sick note culture" is covered widely in Friday's papers.

The Times says the prime minister believes the over-medicalisation of common anxieties is behind the rise in people being signed off work with mental health problems. The Guardian says Mr Sunak will use a speech on Friday to suggest that GPs are signing people off work "by default", while the Daily Telegraph reports they could be stripped of their right to do so.

The Daily Mirror calls the plans "a sick joke". The paper says the NHS backlog is the cause of many absences from work, while the Sun says the plans are "music to its ears". The Daily Mail calls it a blitz on sick note Britain, while the Daily Express believes the proposals are a chance for Mr Sunak "to change lives for good".

The Guardian says Thames Water could be re-nationalised with most of the £15.6 billion it owes added to the public debt. The paper says the government is working on contingency planning, which it says, is at an advanced stage. Under the plans, the paper says some lenders to Thames Water's core operating company could lose up to 40% of their money.

The Financial Times claims that the government has told port authorities it will not "turn on" checks which are due to be carried out on EU imports of animal and plant products this month because of the risk of "significant disruption". The paper has seen a presentation from the Department of Food and Rural Affairs that says unmanageable levels of inspections could overwhelm ports.

The i recounts the story of a 72-year-old man from Amsterdam who was found to have had Covid for almost two years before dying, the longest recorded infection of the disease. The man was immuno-compromised due to previous stem cell transplants. According to medical findings, he was admitted to hospital in early 2022 and the virus mutated 50 times during his infection. The paper says while healthy people can clear the virus in a matter of days, those who are immuno-compromised can develop persistent infections as the virus replicates and evolves.

Changing tastes are revealed in the Times, which reports that a quarter of people aged between 18 and 34 barely ever eat a full English breakfast. Reasons cited include concerns that the meal is too fatty and contains too many calories.

And a man from Berkshire has been recounting an extraordinary interaction with Royal Mail to the Daily Telegraph. Richard Wilson, from Reading, was intrigued to receive delivery of a birthday card for his son, Alfie - but first had to pay £2.50 because it was posted with a stamp "no longer valid for purpose". When he opened the envelope he found it was a birthday card from his sister for the boy's first birthday. However, Alfie is now nine. Royal Mail said it "could not speculate" on why the letter wasn't delivered for almost a decade. Mr Wilson was refunded £10.80 and given a book of eight stamps. Alfie was given a £10 cheque to buy himself something as a gesture of goodwill.

Sign up for our morning newsletter and get BBC News in your inbox.