'Starmer threatens Putin' and 'council tax soars'

Several of Friday's front pages cover plans for a future military deployment in Ukraine. "Starmer threatens Putin" is the i Paper's headline, after the prime minister warned of "severe consequences" for the Russian president if UK troops were attacked, the paper reports. It comes as Sir Keir "steps up plans" for a "31-nation military force" to provide security guarantees to Kyiv in the event of a peace deal, it adds.

Starmer has had a "change of heart" over plans to send ground troops to Ukraine, according to the Financial Times. Instead, he is "turning towards air and sea support" to secure a future peace deal for the war-torn nation, it says.

The prime minister's visit to a nuclear submarine has sent a message to Putin about the UK's deterrent, the Times reports. Defence Secretary John Healey, who joined Sir Keir, said Britain had the power to do "untold damage" to Russia with its nuclear arsenal, the paper says. Russia itself has the world's largest nuclear arsenal.

The Daily Mail's headline is "Council tax sours to a record high". Millions of families have been hit with "inflation-busting bills", the paper says.

The Daily Express links the council tax rises to the prime minister, saying Labour has been accused of "hammering households" with a 5% increase in the bills.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has accused the Conservatives of "betraying" future generations on energy, according to the Guardian. He was responding to Tory leader Kemi Badenoch's criticism of the UK's net zero target, the paper says.

A man convicted of killing 18-year-old Stephen Lawrence in 1993 "finally admits he was there on the night Stephen died", the Daily Mirror reports. David Norris had "for 32 years denied taking part in the attack", the paper says.

London's Metropolitan Police have made a list of the 100 "most dangerous predators targeting women and girls", the Metro reports. The paper carries an article about the force's initiative by Met chief Sir Mark Rowley.

The UK's official growth forecast will be halved next, the Telegraph says, describing the move as a "blow to Sir Keir Starmer". Its front page includes a picture of former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who was cleared following an investigation into the SNP's finances, the paper reports.

Boxing legend Frank Bruno has been "rushed to hospital" after falling "seriously ill" on a flight, the Sun reports.

"Sod the JFK files," says the Daily Star, referring to a tranche of documents published earlier this week. Instead, the paper leads on a "special investigation" into a "decades-old" debate over a broom belonging to fan-favourite Only Fools and Horses character Trigger.

Sir Keir Starmer's visit to a nuclear submarine made the front page of some papers

The Daily Telegraph says the independent Office for Budget Responsibility will cut its forecast for UK economic growth over the next year from 2% to about 1%.

The paper says Chancellor Rachel Reeves will use her Spring Statement on Wednesday to blame an uncertain global outlook, including trade tariffs imposed by President Trump.

But the Telegraph believes that argument has been undermined by surveys showing that business confidence has been falling since before Trump took office, because of concerns about the tax burden.

The Daily Mail and the Express lead on rises in council tax, as people across England open their annual bills. The Mail says struggling families are paying record amounts after almost all councils put up the tax by the maximum allowed, which was 5%. Its front page shows uncollected waste piled up in Birmingham, where collectors are on strike, with the caption "the service you get is still rubbish". The Express calls it a "day of shame".

The Financial Times reports that Sir Keir Starmer has shown a "change of heart" about plans for a peacekeeping force in Ukraine. The paper says he's turning towards air and sea support for Kyiv, rather than putting European boots on the ground.

Defence Secretary John Healey has spoken to the Times about Britain's nuclear deterrent, warning that it has the power to inflict "untold damage". He made the comments in an interview with the paper, after laying the keel for the first of Britain's new generation of nuclear submarines.

In the Guardian, the Energy Secretary Ed Miliband says the government is "up for the fight" on its climate policies after the Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said it was impossible for the UK to reach net zero by 2050.

In an interview, Miliband accuses the Tories of having an "energy surrender policy", and of betraying future generations. He also insists that the prime minister and the chancellor are "100%" behind his agenda despite, the paper says, concerns among some in Labour that they could retreat on both funding and targets because of political pressure.

The Daily Mirror's main news is the revelation in Parole Board documents that David Norris - one of the men convicted of murdering the black teenager, Stephen Lawrence - has reportedly for the first time admitted he was involved in the attack. The Mirror recalls comments made earlier this year by Stephen Lawrence's father, Neville, that he would accept Norris's release if he admitted to the crime and said sorry for the devastation it had caused to his family.

And the Telegraph reports that British expats are to be cut off from scores of BBC radio stations and podcasts. The paper explains that the audio streaming app BBC Sounds will no longer be available to people overseas. They'll instead need to use a service on BBC.com, or a separate app. The Radio 4 presenter Kirsty Lang is quoted describing the move as devastating. Speech-only radio stations, including Radio 4, will still be available. A BBC spokesperson tells the Telegraph that BBC Sounds is being "repositioned" to be UK-only to provide better value for licence-fee payers.

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