The headline in the Daily Express comes from campaigners who have warned that Labour’s social care reforms will take years and are a “cop-out”. An independent commission is not due to make recommendations until 2028 and activist Dennis Reed claimed that amounted to a “recipe for delay”. Elsewhere, the paper has printed a picture of snowfall around Stonehenge, writing that a snow alert has been issued as an “Arctic freeze grips Britain”.
The Daily Mail says that “teen darts ace” Luke Littler is tipped to “rake in £50m over his career”, adding that the 17-year-old has already made up to “£3m in prizes and deals”. Before Littler competed in the world darts championship final on Friday night, the paper quoted one analyst who said: “That is only going to get bigger. He is here to stay.”
The Daily Telegraph reports that the NHS is “giving priority to asylum seekers over the general public despite soaring waiting times”. The paper says that Trusts across the country have policies allowing migrants, including failed asylum seekers, to “skip the queue and be seen by the NHS within 15 minutes”. The paper quotes Dr Karol Sikora, a cancer specialist, who said: “The only prioritisation in healthcare should be the urgency of medical need, especially in the emergency department.”
Quoting a former detective, the Daily Mail says that Sir Keir Starmer is as “guilty as anyone” over failures to tackle grooming gangs. The paper says that as pressure mounted on the government to deliver a public inquiry into the scandal, whistleblower Maggie Oliver said she had “no faith” in the prime minister’s “desire to get to the truth”.
Sir Keir’s efforts to start the year by focusing on the NHS and other domestic priorities are “at risk of being derailed by attacks from Donald Trump and his billionaire backer Elon Musk”, writes the Times. The president-elect said the British government had made a “very big mistake” by increasing the windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas, after an American company announced that it would “end all production in its British operations by December 2029”. Downing Street has chosen not to respond directly to the latest criticisms from Trump and Musk, the paper adds.
The i newspaper says a “major survey” suggests the prime minister will lose significant support to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK Party unless Labour can “target voters concerned about immigration”.
The FT Weekend reports that “City minister Tulip Siddiq was given a central London apartment by a person connected with the party of the recently ousted Bangladeshi government”. The paper writes that Siddiq, economic secretary to the Treasury, was “handed a two-bedroom flat near King’s Cross in 2004 without making a payment, according to previously unreported Land Registry filings”. A spokesperson for the minister said: “Any suggestion that Tulip Siddiq’s ownership of this property, or any other property, is in any way linked to support for the Awami League would be categorically wrong.”
The headline in the Daily Star reads “Secretary of State for the Bleedin’ Obvious”, reporting that Health Secretary Wes Streeting said “we should turn on the heating to stay warm” as snow and ice hit Britain.
And the Sun says that Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury look to have “rekindled” their relationship, sharing a picture of the Love Island pair, both 25, “kissing” at a Hogmanay party.
