A variety of stories lead Saturday’s papers. The Financial Times reports on a survey which found UK businesses are cutting jobs at the fastest pace since the 2009 financial crisis other than during the Covid pandemic, saying it has reignited fears of stagnation in the British economy. The paper says the data will be “a blow to Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who spent the week at World Economic Forum in Davos talking up the economy”. It adds recent turmoil in the markets is said to have convinced her to go “faster and further” in pursuit of growth.
Separate figures show there has been a 50% rise in businesses in “critical financial distress”, according to the Daily Mail. The paper quotes an insolvency specialist saying that recent rises in employers’ national insurance and the minimum wage could be the “last straw” for firms already struggling with low consumer confidence and high borrowing costs.
The Times quotes Reeves saying Britain must learn from US President Donald Trump’s “positivity” if it is to turn the economy round. In an interview with the paper, Reeves says Britain is “absolutely fantastic as a country” but for too long has been “polite” and “apologetic” about its own potential. “We should be shouting from the rooftops,” she says.
A veteran who lost his winter fuel payment following October’s budget is now relying on the generosity of a stranger from the US to heat his home, the Daily Express reports. John Dockree, 73, tells the paper he and his wife had to huddle with their rescue dogs to keep warm and calls the change a “disgrace”.
The Guardian reports that police are locked in a lengthy US legal process to obtain data from Google and Microsoft that would allow them to see what Axel Rudakubana was searching online before murdering three girls in Southport. The paper says Rudakubana’s internet history, which he deleted shortly before leaving home to carry out the attack, could hold clues about why he targeted young girls. It adds that detectives fear it could be years before they can access the data.
Downing Street says there are no plans for reforms to allow whole-life sentences for teenage murderers like Rudakubana, the Daily Telegraph reports. On Thursday, Rudakubana was handed a 52-year jail term instead of a whole-life order because of his age at the time of the killings, prompting calls for changes to allow whole-life orders for under-18s in exceptional circumstances. The paper quotes a spokesperson for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer saying the government will not pursue the change because it would violate UN law, which does not allow children to be given the death penalty or imprisoned without the possibility of release.
The Daily Mirror says a lawyer for Christian Brueckner, who has been named by German prosecutors as a suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, has said he may try to flee Europe to avoid charges in the case. Brueckner is currently serving a seven-year sentence for a separate rape conviction, but is expected to be released in September. Speaking to the paper, lawyer Philipp Marquort says: “Sometimes he wants to stay here in Germany, sometimes he wants to leave Europe. If I were him I would leave Europe and look for a state which doesn’t extradite to Europe or Great Britain, maybe like Suriname.”
Real Madrid and England star Jude Bellingham has been pictured for the first time with his new girlfriend, US Instagram model Ashlyn Castro, the Sun reports. The paper says Castro met Bellingham’s parents this week in the Spanish capital and that the following day the pair were seen together at lunch.
And the Daily Star says UFO experts have claimed that classified papers on the JFK assassination set to be released by President Trump will prove the existence of aliens and their link to the killing.
To provide the best experiences, we and our partners use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us and our partners to process personal data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site and show (non-) personalized ads. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Click below to consent to the above or make granular choices. Your choices will be applied to this site only. You can change your settings at any time, including withdrawing your consent, by using the toggles on the Cookie Policy, or by clicking on the manage consent button at the bottom of the screen.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
