'Trump pulls support for Chagos' and 'Britain faces '1936 moment''
The Daily Telegraph leads with Donald Trump's change in stance after a fresh attack on the Chagos Islands deal. The US President has demanded Sir Keir "not give away" Diego Garcia to Mauritius and added the military base was crucial for possible airstrikes on Iran, the paper reports.
Trump accusing Sir Keir of surrendering to "wokeism" is the focus of the Times, as the president pulls US support from the Chagos Islands deal. It is the latest in a series of reversals from Trump, who "appeared to give his blessing" to the deal only weeks ago. The US State Department had also given its support on Tuesday.
Former military leaders and ex-ministers have warned Britain faces a "1936 moment" and that Sir Keir must commit to "doubling defence spending", the Daily Mail reports. It describes the intervention by the group as "unprecedented" - with a demand that defence spending increase to 5% of GDP.
The Financial Times leads with the expected early departure of the European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde. According to someone familiar with Lagarde's thinking, Europe's top central banker wants to leave her eight-year term as president "before the French presidential election in April next year".
Epstein "trafficking" allegations are the focus of the i Paper, as Surrey Police urge people to come forward with any information. The paper says Met Police are looking into "Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's former bodyguards" and what they "may have witnessed while protecting him during his friendship with the convicted paedophile". The former prince has always strenuously denied any offence.
Tony Martin, the farmer who shot dead a teenager intruder at his home in 1999, has left his entire "£2.5m fortune" to a "pub landlady, the Daily Mirror says. Martin, who died aged 80 last year, has gifted his estate to "pal Jacqui Wadsley, 52, who ran his local" pub and "helped him after his release from prison", the paper says.
In an exclusive, a grooming gang survivor has told the Daily Express her request to meet with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has been ignored. Ellie Reynolds, 25, has accused the PM "for breaking trust and allegedly ignoring their claims of 'corruption'" over the UK's grooming gangs inquiry, which is expected to begin later in the year. A Home Office spokesperson has previously said the inquiry would have "full powers to compel evidence and hold local investigations".
The government could block tech giants from the UK if "revenge porn" and deepfake sexual abuse images are not deleted from the internet within 48 hours, the Guardian reports. Sir Keir has said the government must confront this "national emergency".
The Metro features a drill rapper on the run who managed to escape custody twice in a week and released a rap video apparently teasing police online. Daniel Boakye, 21, who goes by the rap name DSAVV, escaped Lewisham Hospital in south-east London on Sunday after being taken there for medical treatment. The rapper had been jailed for six years in 2023 "for stealing phones at knifepoint to get passcodes". The song posted online features the lyrics: "I just broke out of jail."
A top think tank has called on Rachel Reeves to stop the "dysfunctional" policymaking causing Britain's economy to weaken, the Independent reports. The Institute for Fiscal Studies drew comparisons to Reeves' "self-imposed rules on debt" to a driver only focused on the speedometer "while ignoring ... whether or not the brakes are working", the paper says.
The Daily Star's lead headline "If you could turn Beck time?" concerns Brooklyn Beckham removing a tattoo tribute to his father, David. The paper claims the former football star's son has kept a "£220k watch ... his dad bought him for his 21st".
And pubs across the UK are celebrating an "extra-time victory" after minister agree to allow them to "stay open until 01:00 or 02:00 for any home nation matches beyond the group stages" for World Cup games this summer, the Sun reports.
