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Newspaper headlines: Ex-Labour MPs’ plea to vote Tory
The Daily Mail is one of several papers to report on comments made by ex-Labour MPs Ian Austin and John Woodcock on Thursday urging voters not to vote for Labour but to back Boris Johnson. The Mail calls it a “calamitous day” for Labour, calling the intervention from the two MPs “extraordinary”. It lists the other problems it says have beset the party under the banner “Corbyn in crisis”.
“Ganging up on Corbyn,” is the headline in the Metro, which also reports on the comments from Mr Austin and Mr Woodcock. Responding, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the pair had betrayed voters after being elected as Labour MPs and then walking away from the party, the paper adds.
The Daily Express’s take is that Mr Corbyn’s election campaign is “in crisis” following the remarks by the two ex-Labour frontbenchers. The Express says the “plea” from the pair was “incredible”, after serving the Labour Party for most of their lives.
As well as Mr Austin and Mr Woodcock, the Daily Telegraph counts two other former Labour MPs who have described Mr Corbyn as “unfit to lead” and a “menace”. The paper says Tom Harris and Michael McCann have also said they will vote Conservative next month. The paper’s cartoonist Matt pictures two voters gazing at a “Vote Conservative” billboard and musing: “I see the Tories have stolen another Labour policy.
Friday’s Guardian focuses on the election campaign announcements from the Conservatives and Labour, who have both pledged to spend billions if they get elected. The paper calls it a “public-spending bidding war”. Such borrowing would return public investment to levels last seen in the 1970s, the paper adds.
“Spend, spend, spend” – across a background of flying £50 notes – is the headline for the i newspaper, which hails the “end of austerity” as both parties agree to use low interest rates for huge public investment. The paper says Chancellor Sajid Javid “tears up fiscal rules” to promise an extra £22bn for public spending, undoing “years of Tory prudence”, while John McDonnell has pledged an “eye-watering £400bn”.
The Times also examines spending promises, but focuses on Labour’s proposals to spend an extra £55bn a year. The director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies has written an article for the paper, saying “there is next to no chance that investment spending could sensibly be increased” by that amount within a year or two. The main picture on the front of the paper is of film star James Dean, who will appear in a new film about the Vietnam War – or more precisely his digital avatar will do so.
The Daily Mirror’s front page is filled with a photo of an elderly dementia patient who it says was left on a hospital trolley for six hours. The paper says the 88-year-old woman, who used to work for the NHS, is “another victim of heartless Tory cuts” – and takes aim at “Boris’ Britain”.
The top story for the Financial Times is on a “rift” between French President Emmanuel Macron and Nato. Mr Macron has strongly criticised the security alliance – especially over its “lack of strategic co-ordination” over the invasion of Syria by Turkey – and said it is suffering “brain-death”. His attack has seen him “lock horns” with Germany’s Angela Merkel, who has rejected Mr Macron’s view.
The Daily Star leads on a story about the widow of horse racing pundit John McCririck. The paper says Jenny McCririck, who was famously nicknamed “Booby” by her husband, is auctioning off his clothes, jewels and cigars as she fears they could be a target for thieves. Mr McCririck, who died in July, appeared on Channel 4 Racing for nearly 30 years and was known for his flamboyant clothing and energetic dispatches from the racecourse.
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