UK missiles 'vital' to stop Putin, and 'nanny Starmer's ad ban'

Keir Starmer holds a cup of coffee and faces the camera in a cafe on the election campaign trailImage source, PA Media
Image caption,

Just coffee, no cake? Starmer's crackdown on junk food will start coming into effect next October

  • Published

Sir Keir Starmer's comments that President Vladimir Putin could end the conflict in Ukraine "straight away" are the lead in the Guardian, external and the Times., external

The Times says it expects discussions between the prime minister and US President Joe Biden at the White House to represent a "shift" from the present policy of staying the course - to one where there is some form of end to the conflict.

The Foreign Secretary David Lammy has spoken to the Daily Telegraph,, external saying the coming months will be crucial in helping Kyiv get into a "position to win".

The Daily Mail focuses, external on the government's plans for a pre-watershed ban on junk food advertising and a total ban on paid advertising online.

It says, external Sir Keir has indicated the measures are part of a bid to crackdown on child obesity but the paper describes it as "a new era of the nanny state" - and quotes critics as saying it will do little to tackle Britain’s "bulging waistlines".

The Times says, external the ban will be the first of several tough public health measures ministers believe are essential to save the NHS.

A warning from the the government's fiscal watchdog that the UK’s public debt is on an "unsustainable" upward path - because of trends like population ageing and the costs of climate change - is the lead in the Financial Times., external

The Office for Budget Responsibility says that surging public spending is projected to raise the ratio of public debt to 274% of GDP over the coming 50 years, compared with less than 100% now.

The FT says the watchdog found a sustained period of tight budgetary policy would be needed to bring the public finances to a more healthy state - with an average budget clampdown of 1.5% a decade - to bring debt back towards pre-pandemic levels.

Dame Esther Rantzen's bid to change the law on assisted dying is the lead in the Daily Express, external - as the paper reports that the first "citizens' jury" has backed a change in the law to allow people who are terminally ill to have help to end their lives.

Dame Esther has terminal lung cancer. The paper says a clear 71% of those in the jury of 30 people supported the change.

It quotes Dame Esther as saying the verdict confirms that the "vast majority" of the public believe the law on assisted dying "urgently needs reform.”

The Sun is among the papers to report, external that touching wood is not just for bringing good luck, but that it can have the same calming effect on our nerves as stroking a pet.

It quotes Professor Baroness Kathy Willis from the University of Oxford who told the Instant Genius podcast that the smell of wood also plays a part, and that the scent is still beneficial decades after a tree has been cut down.

And a number of the front pages carry extraordinary photos of the US billionaire Jared Isaacman silhouetted against the glowing globe of the Earth - after he completed the world’s first commercial spacewalk yesterday as part of a SpaceX mission.

His words "the world looks perfect from here", top the photo in the Telegraph., external

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