Kate's 'relief to be in remission' and 'Siddiq quits'

A beaming Princess of Wales is front and centre on the Daily Mirror's front page on Wednesday, as she announces, "I'm in remission." On a visit to the hospital where she received cancer treatment, the Royal Marsden, on Tuesday, the princess "thanked staff... and hugged patients", the paper adds.

The princess's announcement dominates many of Wednesday's front pages, with the Daily Express headlining on Catherine's "relief" that there is no sign of her cancer after treatment. She is now looking forward to a "fulfilling year ahead", it adds.

Catherine's visit on Tuesday to the Royal Marsden - where she received her cancer treatment - is the focus of the Sun's front page on Wednesday. The paper says she "hailed" the standard of care at the hospital, calling it "exceptional".

The princess also had "words of comfort and caring hugs" for patients at the Royal Marsden, writes the Metro. It carries pictures of Catherine hugging and chatting to patients on her visit, which was "to support patients and personally thank staff", on her first solo engagement since her cancer treatment ended.

Tulip Siddiq's resignation as Treasury minister leads the Times, with the paper saying the Labour MP has been "forced out of office" over an anti-corruption inquiry in Bangladesh, which was deemed to have exposed the government to "reputational risks". Siddiq said she "did not want to become a 'distraction'", it adds, but says her resignation remains "politically damaging" for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, "who pledged to clean up government after a succession of Tory scandals".

Siddiq was the "second resignation of a senior woman in Starmer's government over ethics", the Guardian adds. The paper says, following an investigation by the prime minister's standards adviser, it was deemed that she had "not broken any rules" but she "could have been more alive to the reputational risks arriving from her family's ties to Bangladesh".

But the prime minister has said the "door remains open" to Siddiq in the future, writes the Financial Times, which calls her a "close ally" of Sir Keir. It adds that Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the prime minister "should have sacked Siddiq earlier", and that he "dithered and delayed to protect his close friend". Elsewhere, the paper carries a striking image of the wildfires in Los Angeles, with a warning that expected "strong winds raise threat" of further destruction.

The Dail Mail says Siddiq's resignation means "one lame duck down", referencing its front page on Tuesday which called her, alongside Chancellor Rachel Reeves, "two lame ducks". "Just 24 hours after the PM insisted he had full confidence in her, Tulip Siddiq resigns... so how secure is the crisis-hit chancellor he also backed feeling today?" the paper asks.

Amid what the i calls "turbulence" at the Treasury, Reeves is "searching for growth, and ready to cut spending in March mini-Budget". The paper says Downing Street is "open" to taking a fresh look at the country's finances in March "in order to hit their pledge to balance the books", with "new cuts to public services and benefits" being considered.

The Daily Telegraph leads with criticism of the government's plans to repeal parts of the Legacy Act, which it says could mean former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams, and up to 400 others "also detained in the 1970s [have] the right to claim compensation" for unlawful detention. Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said the repealing of the act underlined "the government's absolute commitment to the Human Rights Act", the paper says, but adds that some "senior peers and IRA victims" have branded the move as "unacceptable".

And the Daily Star is calling on the government to "keep your filthy hands off Tory beavers". The paper says Downing Street has "blocked the reintroduction of beavers into the wild because it is viewed as a 'Tory legacy'". The move, it adds, has left nature-lovers with their "knickers in a twist".

The Times says the resignation of Tulip Siddiq as a senior Treasury minister is "politically damaging" for the prime minister, who had pledged to clean up Whitehall after a succession of Tory scandals. It notes that Sir Keir Starmer had defended his close ally, before she became the second member of the government to resign in two months.

The Financial Times says she "bowed to pressure", after she was linked to an anti-corruption investigation in Bangladesh. Siddiq has denied wrongdoing, but said she was distracting from the government's work.

The i reports that insiders at Downing Street now see Sir Keir's decision to give the anti-corruption job to her as an "own goal".

Francis Pike in the Spectator says Tulip Siddiq did the right thing by stepping down, but criticises how the row was handled. "It was clear that her political career was over", he says, "but the Labour party and Sir Keir defended the indefensible."

"One lame duck down" is how the Daily Mail describes the resignation. It says Siddiq quit 24 hours after the prime minister said he had confidence in her, and asks how secure the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is now feeling.

Tulip Siddiq said it would be a "distraction" for the government if she had carried on in her role, but insisted she had done nothing wrong.

The Daily Telegraph reports that the deal for the UK to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius is set to be signed off today, after a scramble to get it finalised before Donald Trump takes office. The paper says the government of the Indian Ocean country had been holding up the agreement, but that ministers there will meet this morning to approve it.

The Times also thinks Mauritius is on the brink of settling the deal. It says there were fears that President-elect Trump could veto the agreement if it was not finalised before he returned to the White House.

The Guardian says today's report on how obesity is diagnosed is an attempt to address "one of the most controversial and polarising debates in modern medicine". The paper agrees that basing assessments on BMI can lead to health problems being missed. But it urges medics, and wider society, to also focus on cutting obesity, by promoting active travel and cracking down on junk food advertising.

The Princess of Wales is on many of the front pages. The Sun and the Daily Express both highlight her comment that it's a "relief" to be told she's in remission from cancer. The Daily Mirror says she made a "moving return" to the hospital where she was treated. The Times says she revealed to patients that sunlight and water had become important to her to help get through chemotherapy, and that sometimes she found herself lost for words. She told them "there is light at the end of the tunnel".

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