The headline on the front page of the Daily Mirror read, “We have been duped.” It reflects the anger expressed by campaigners at the government’s rejection of payments to women affected by changes to the state pension age. Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said the cost of paying out up to £10.5m in Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) claims would hit the taxpayer.
The front page of the Daily Express also included the word “betrayal”, referring to comments by Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe, who accused Labor of “time and again betraying our pensioners”. The paper points to the decision earlier this year to scrap the winter fuel payment subsidy for millions of old-age pensioners – a move which was also criticised.
The Times says Labor MPs are revolting at the decision not to pay compensation, with one calling it “one of those historic injustices which is a stain on society”. Backbenchers are reportedly urging ministers to reconsider rejecting recommendations to pay each woman born in the 1950s up to £2,950.
The Daily Mail says the rejection of payments to more than three million women has led to Labor being accused of hypocrisy, as many senior party figures had supported the Waspi campaign while in opposition.
“Brave and spirited to the end” is Metro’s main headline – referring to Sara Sharif, a 10-year-old girl whose father and stepmother have been sentenced to life in prison for her murder. The newspaper features a photo of Sarah smiling and focuses on comments from the sentencing judge, who talked about her “unique spirit” and love of singing and dancing.
The newspaper follows the government’s announcement that it will provide compensation to sub-postmasters who suffered losses due to the outage in the Post Office IT system called Capture, which was used before Horizon. The government said on Tuesday it had officially recognized that the capture “could lead to a shortage affecting postmasters”.
“Musk ready to bankroll Farage,” the Telegraph said, alongside a photo of US billionaire Elon Musk, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and the party’s new treasurer Nick Candy. Writing for the newspaper, Farage says the Tesla boss left us “in no doubt he is behind us” after talks in Florida on Monday, and about Musk making a financial contribution to Reform UK. “Ongoing negotiations” were going on.
The Financial Times is leading on the death of a Russian general accused of using chemical weapons in Ukraine. Russian officials say Lieutenant General Igor Krylov and his aide were killed in an explosion caused by a bomb hidden on a scooter. The FT says the incident “indicates the work of Ukraine’s spy agencies inside Russia” and a Ukrainian intelligence officer with “direct knowledge of the attack” told the newspaper that Ukraine’s SBU security service was responsible.
Krylov’s death also made the front page of the Guardian, reporting on comments by Dmitry Medvedev, a senior Russian official, who said Moscow would avenge the killing by targeting “Ukraine’s military-political leadership”. The newspaper also features a photo of Olympian Keeley Hodgkinson, who won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.
The Daily Star is based on the story of “Pawkaso”, an “unstable dog” who is said to look “like a piece of modern art”. The newspaper reports that Brody – who is a mix of German Shepherd, Mastiff, Pitbull Terrier and Rottweiler – was injured after being bitten by his mother as a puppy, resulting in his face being disfigured and one eye partially covered. Became blind from. Brody’s unique look is said to have attracted the attention of celebrities including actor Amanda Seyfried.
