Newspaper headlines: Labour's 'vow to nationalise rail' and school stabbing
- Published
"Labour pledges to nationalise rail network within five years" is the main headline in the Guardian, which joins the Daily Mirror, the Metro and the i, in leading with the party's plans for the rail network.
Labour insiders tell the Guardian the announcement heralds the beginning of more radical proposals in the run up to the general election. The Mirror says the intervention "can't come soon enough", as it claims money which should have gone on upgrading services has thus far been given to owners and shareholders. But the i says the rail industry has hit out at the plans - claiming they will cost taxpayers more in the long run.
The main story for the Daily Telegraph is an accusation from ministers and defence sources that Labour is "failing to keep Britain safe in a dangerous world" by refusing to match the government's pledge to spend 2.5% of GDP on defence by 2030. Labour says it is committed to the target when economic conditions allow.
But the Sun says finances must allow for it and argues Labour wants to save every penny for what it describes as its ideological crusades such as rail nationalisation. The Guardian's editorial says Rishi Sunak's promise to spend an extra £75bn on the department is misleading, because it assumes that defence spending would otherwise be frozen in cash terms - a scenario it says no one is proposing.
The stabbing at a school in Carmarthenshire is the lead story for the Daily Mail and the Daily Express, which has the headline: "Horror in the playground'. The Mail reports that one of the teachers is lucky to be alive.
The Times leads on the global study that suggests a third of 11-year-olds in England and half of those aged 13 have tried alcohol - more than any of the other 43 countries surveyed.
The research finds that in England children from wealthier families are the most likely to have had a drink - and that teenage girls are more likely than boys to get drunk, vape, and smoke. The Scottish edition of the Times says a quarter of boys in Scotland have smoked cannabis. The report says the only demographic to use the drug more are Canadian girls.
And striking pictures of the escaped cavalry horses charging through the streets of London feature on many of the front pages. "Here comes the cavalry - and the chaos" reads the Telegraph's headline above a picture of two of the horses - including a white one covered in blood.
The paper's editorial notes that, weirdly, as the horses were on the run, the Big Ben clock struck at the wrong hour. The article finishes "we hope someone has checked carefully on the ravens at the tower".
Legend has it that if the resident birds leave the Tower of London the kingdom will fall.
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