The Metro reports that Labour will use barges to house asylum seekers temporarily if it wins the next general election. According to the paper, shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock says his party would “have to continue in a very short-term period to use the infrastructure that is there” due to “the complete and utter chaos and shambles of the Tory asylum crisis”. The government’s decision to house migrants on barges has sparked a lot of controversy, with some human rights groups calling it inhumane.
The Daily Mail reports that government ministers are “drawing up proposals” to send asylum seekers arriving in the UK via the Channel to Ascension Island – a British overseas territory 4,000 miles away in the South Atlantic – if their plan to send some people to Rwanda falls through.
The Times also reports that the government has alternative plans if the Rwanda policy “fails”. In its lead, the paper says ministers are assessing alternative options “to tackle the small-boats crisis” and Ascension Island is one of them. The small volcanic island was previously considered as a location to process asylum seekers, the paper reports, adding that ministers believed its remote location would “create a strong deterrent for those planning to cross the Channel in small boats”.
Meanwhile, the Daily Express reports that landlords and bosses who “help migrants live and work in the UK will be hit in a crackdown” and face fines of up to £60,000 per illegal worker and £20,000 per tenant. Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick is quoted as saying that “making it harder for illegal migrants to work and operate in the UK is vital to deterring dangerous, unnecessary boat crossings”.
The Daily Telegraph also leads on fines for bosses employing people who have arrived in the UK illegally. It says the “drastically increased fines aim to tackle the UK’s image as being soft on immigration”. A source told the paper these measures would make it “completely economically unacceptable and financially ruinous” to risk employing workers illegally.
In its lead, the i newspaper reports that UK scientists are preparing for a potential bird flu pandemic in humans. It goes on to say that the avian influenza strain – H5N1 – has killed millions of birds since October 2021. According to the paper, the world’s top virologists are preparing for the emergence of a new virus and health chiefs are confident of a “slick and rapid response” to new threats following the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Guardian carries a report on MPs’ second jobs, as the paper found that MPs were paid £10m from second jobs and freelance work over the past year. The sum was “largely driven by the size of Boris Johnson’s earnings as well as former Tory ministers”, the paper adds. In its analysis, the Guardian looked at all MPs who made more than £1,000 from outside income (excluding from surveys) in the past year. The front page also features an interview with children’s author Jacqueline Wilson.
The Financial Times leads on a report that Europe’s biggest companies have suffered “at least €100bn [£86bn] in direct losses” from the sale, closure or reduction of Russian businesses since the start of the war in Ukraine last year. “Penalty pain” is how the paper describes the woes of the US women’s football team, whose “World Cup dream is over”. The US squad – one of the top contenders to win the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand – lost by “the smallest of margins” after video technology showed that the ball US goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher had saved “crept a millimetre over the goal line,” the paper adds.
The Daily Mirror leads on a poll, carried out by the newspaper, which suggested that 74% of people would like tougher penalties for the owners of dangerous dogs.
The Daily Star reports that Star Trek legend William Shatner is facing backlash from sci-fi fans for mocking claims that aliens have visited Earth.
“Remote island plan for Channel migrants” is the headline of the Daily Mail’s splash. It says the government is drawing up proposals to fly asylum seekers to Ascension Island, a small British overseas territory in the South Atlantic, if its Rwanda policy fails.
The Times reports that ministers are also in negotiations with five other countries as part of contingency plans, which the paper understands would involve sending asylum seekers away on a one-way flight, rather than moving them to another country temporarily.
It is a warning to bosses who hire illegal migrants that leads the Daily Express and the Daily Telegraph. Repeat offenders could face fines of up to £60,000 per employee and landlords housing migrants illegally could be fined up to £20,000 per tenant. Writing in the Daily Telegraph, the immigration minister, Robert Jenrick, denounces those he says are “enabling the business model of the people smugglers” and insists it is “only right” that fines should be “prohibitively expensive”.
The i reports that scientists at Porton Down are preparing for a potential bird flu pandemic in humans. The paper says vaccines against the H5N1 strain, which has killed millions of birds since 2021, are at an advanced stage of development. Experts tell the newspaper they are already carrying out surveillance of the virus in poultry workers and are confident of a “slick and rapid response” if a new virus were to emerge.
“From Lab to Jab in 100 days” says the Times, as the paper reports Britain is working towards deploying vaccines within three months of a virus being detected.
According to the Guardian, MPs have been paid £10m from second jobs over the past year despite promises of a crackdown. The paper says the figure has been driven up largely by Conservative MPs – particularly Boris Johnson who has made £4.8m, accounting for more than half the total. The Guardian says the rise in incomes over the past year appears to be driven by a small group of Tory MPs taking on lucrative consultancy jobs, and well-paid media gigs for the right-wing GB News Channel, as well as Rupert Murdoch’s Talk TV.
The Times reports on a warning that thousands of teenagers could miss out on top A level grades next week as scoring returns to pre-pandemic levels. The paper reports on analysis from an education expert, who predicts 59,000 fewer A* grades compared with last year. The Daily Telegraph also features the work of Professor Alan Smithers, and quotes him as saying candidates are going to feel “a bit hard done by” and that “at the very least there are going to be lots of appeals.”
And the United States has come a step closer to unlimited clean power, according to the Financial Times. The paper reports that US government scientists seeking to harness the fusion reaction that powers the sun have done so successfully for a second time, eight months after their initial breakthrough. The experiment produced energy output roughly sufficient to power a household iron for an hour.
