A mix of stories front Thursday’s papers, and the i Paper leads on “crushing” delays to cancer treatment that it says are likely after strikes by resident doctors due to start tomorrow. Charities warn that the industrial action – with 50,000 doctors set to strike over five days – will “inevitably” impact those will less survivable cancers, like lung, liver and brain cancer.
The Times also leads on the doctors’ strikes with Sir Jim Mackey, chief executive of NHS England, saying doctors must face financial consequences for going on strike. Sir Jim told hospital leaders this week the NHS will be “much more resistant” to doctors’ demands on pay. The paper reports that during previous rounds of industrial action, doctors claimed overtime on shifts to clear backlogs, leaving NHS leaders to conclude “they had effectively subsidised industrial action”.
Police are “not ready for a summer of unrest” writes the Daily Telegraph, which leads with a warning from Police Federation leader Tiff Lynch that police forces are “being pulled in every direction”. Writing in the paper, says police commanders are “forced to choose between keeping the peace at home or plugging national gaps”. She writes that unrest in Epping near a hotel housing asylum seekers was a “signal flare” for more.
Asylum seekers in the UK are “gambling away taxpayer cash” is the Daily Mail’s lead. It says it has seen Home Office data that shows more than 6,000 asylum seekers have used debit cards, issued by the government to cover their living costs, at least once for gambling in the past year.
The asylum issue is also front page news for the Sun, which features a picture of a man carrying a mattress into a top London hotel that the paper says was being readied for asylum seekers. Listing some other stories about asylum seekers reported in the past 24 hours, the paper labels the situation a “4-star fiasco”.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch wants to model her leadership on “state-slashing Argentine president” Javier Milei, she tells the Financial Times. “Milei is the template” on cutting spending and liberalising trade, even though it is “less clear” exactly what she wants to cut, the paper writes. Badenoch also warns her colleagues against following Reform UK “down the path of anger and despair”, saying her party “cannot be a repository for disenchantment”.
A skeletal 18-month-old Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq is the lead picture for the Guardian, which reports on Israeli attacks on aid hubs and worsening starvation in Gaza. Palestinian Faiza Abdul Rahman, who is “constantly dizzy” from lack of food says: “We have faced hunger before, but never like this”, a quote the paper uses as its main headline.
The Daily Express had also carried a picture of a starving Gazan child yesterday and follows up with a plea from Live Aid chief Sir Bob Geldof to “feed the children of Gaza”. Sir Bob’s call to help the “tormented, terrified, broken and panicked mothers” comes 40 years after his efforts to raise money for famine-hit Ethiopia – and the paper calls it his “new plea to the world”.
“It’s combing home,” declares the Daily Star, after the Lionesses reached the final of the Euro 2025 tournament. If you are confused, the paper is continuing its hair-raising wordplay after offering readers a free cut-out ponytail before the semi-final victory. The paper now calls for a national bank holiday if the Lionesses win the final, saying Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has “gone silent” on offering the country a day off. “Er, what’s changed PM?” asks the Star.
Tributes to rock “giant” Ozzy Osbourne front the Daily Mirror. The “proud grandpa” said he wanted to spend his final days “dedicated to his family”, according to his friends and a photo shows him with granddaughter Maple. At a party following his farewell gig just a few weeks ago, “he was still our John”, says his sister, a reference to the rock musician’s legal name.
Metro
An inquest into the death of England cricket star Graham Thorpe has heard the father-of-four asked his wife to help him end his life. Metro reports on its front page, Amanda Thorpe said the cricketer had struggled to cope with depression following Covid lockdowns and the loss of a coaching job. “He said he wants to go to Switzerland. I was in turmoil,” Amanda Thorpe said.
