US President Donald Trump has declared European leaders “weak”, with his comments splashed on a number of Wednesday’s front pages. According to the Metro, the president “lambasted ‘decaying’ European nations” for their failure to take action to end the Ukraine war, in a rant that the paper says “puts peace in peril”.
Claudia Winkleman beams on the front page of the Telegraph, after she was made an MBE by King Charles III for her services to broadcasting. The paper leads with quotes from its interview with the leader of France’s National Rally party, Jordan Bardella, who said he would rewrite border policy to help the UK push small boats carrying migrants back into French waters.
The i Paper says the UK and Europe are facing a “huge reality check” over their security, following Trump’s condemnation of “weak” European leaders. The paper reports that No 10 has rejected the president’s claims, but notes that the prime minister is meeting with the US ambassador at Downing Street.
Trump’s “blistering attack” on Europe leads the Independent’s front page. Also featured on the front is Storm Bram, which led to “travel misery” and “flood alerts” across Britain.
There are hopes that Kyiv will agree to the US-brokered peace deal “by Christmas”, according to the Financial Times. It reports that the US has given Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky “days” to respond to their proposition, which will require Ukraine to accept territorial losses in exchange for “unspecified US security guarantees”.
“Number of police forces cut to dozen under plan”, reads the headline on the front page of the Times, which reports that Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is considering reducing police forces in England and Wales to just 12. Sources have told the paper that the home secretary has delayed the publication of a “long-awaited” blueprint for police reform until 2026, as she wants to make “bolder changes than previously planned”.
The Guardian reports that Sir Keir Starmer has called on European leaders to “urgently curb” joint human rights laws, in order to allow states to take “tougher action to protect borders”. The paper says Labour has been “condemned” for calling for changes, with critics arguing that the alterations could allow countries to abandon some of the world’s most vulnerable people.
The front page of the Mail doesn’t feature a single image, leading with the headline “Asylum fiasco without end”. It says that a “damning report” from the National Audit Office has revealed “huge gaps in systems” and missing data, including on how many asylum seekers have gone missing since arriving in the UK.
Photographs of teen Afghan nationals Israr Niazal and Jan Jahanzeb lead the Express, after they were sentenced on Tuesday for the rape of a 15-year-old girl in Leamington Spa. In her comment piece for the paper, Carole Malone asks “How many more sexual assaults will it take?”
“The lost Covid billions” is the main story for the Mirror, after a report found that aid schemes were left open to risk during the pandemic. The paper says that fraud and error under the Tories cost £10.9bn, with much of the shortfall “beyond recovery”.
A photograph of the late Ozzy Osbourne alongside his wife Sharon is splashed across the front page of the Sun, after she revealed his final words to her before his death in July this year.
“Vlad’s pussy galore”, reads the Daily Star’s main headline, alleging that Larry the Cat “snubbed” the Ukrainian president during his visit to No 10 earlier this week.
