Monday’s papers are dominated by the fallout from last week’s Budget. Metro headlines on the Chancellor saying she “didn’t lie”, after accusations that Rachel Reeves misled the public on the national economic outlook in the build-up to the Budget. The paper is splashed with a photo from the ‘s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg showing Reeves opposite Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch in a “Budget face-off”.
The Times leads on ministers who say Reeves also misled them over the “hole in finances”. The Chancellor repeatedly highlighted a downgrade in the productivity forecast “to justify tax rises”, it reports. Meanwhile, The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) had told Reeves that the forecast had been offset by the tax take and had improved.
The Chancellor is “on the rack” writes the Daily Mail, as Reform UK leader Nigel Farage calls for a “sleaze probe”. The ethics watchdog has been “urged to act” on her “Budget lies”, it says. The paper also asks if Sarah Ferguson, wife of Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, is about to move into her daughter Princess Beatrice’s “granny annexe”.
The i Paper also leads on Reeves’s denial that she “didn’t lie” about tax rises and the “black hole”, referring to the funding gap she had indicated she needed to fill. Starmer is expected to tell the public “our welfare state is trapping people – we must reform it”. One of the paper’s columnists says Reeves “may not be a liar, but she is losing trust”.
The Daily Telegraph echoes the Mail with Reeves facing “ethics probe over Budget lies”. It says Farage has written to the UK’s independent ethics adviser asking for an investigation into whether she broke ministerial code. The paper also highlights a portion of the Budget it says was “buried” last week: teens with certain mental health conditions won’t be required to attend school or training for their parents to claim benefits.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer saying thay that his “bold” economic plan will take “years” to deliver leads The Guardian. Writing in the paper, the PM has defended his Chancellor’s decision to raise taxes by £26bn as Conservatives call for Reeves to resign. Also on the front page, the former director of UK special forces was involved in a coverup of concerns over unlawful killings in Afghanistan, an inquiry has heard. A Ministry of Defence spokesperson told the paper “the government is fully committed to supporting the independent inquiry relating to Afghanistan”, adding that it would wait for the outcome before commenting further.
The Independent calls Starmer’s defence of Reeves “defiant” as she “denies lies”. In a speech on Monday the prime minister will argue that she has provided economic stability by creating more fiscal headroom, referring to the money left over after the government meets its expected costs.
“If she had any decency, Reeves would be gone by now” reads the headline of the Daily Express, quoting Badenoch. She called for the prime minister to “grow a backbone and sack” his Chancellor. The paper says over 40,000 people had signed the Conservative’s “sack Reeves now” petition as of Sunday afternoon.
The Financial Times verges away from UK finances, instead leading on the latest in the Russia-Ukraine war. Nato chiefs are weighing a “more aggressive” response to Russian hybrid warfare, it reports. The chair of its military committee tells the paper that the alliance are thinking of being “more proactive instead of reactive” to cyber attacks and airspace violations.
The Sun headlines on its investigation into raids carried out by a group it calls the “Gucci gang”. The “mobsters” have been targeting Premier League footballers and taking their luxury items, including £1m in watches and jewellery from Everton player Jack Grealish.
The Daily Mirror’s Christmas appeal fills its front page. The campaign will use “pioneering assisted and sensory technology” to aid children with “life-limiting” conditions.
The Daily Star calls for former rugby league star Kevin Sinfield to be knighted after completing various feats of physical endurance in aid of motor neurone disease (MND) research.
