PM's call for calm and 'private school VAT delay'

Sir Keir Starmer makes a statement on the evolving situation in the Middle East, inside 10 Downing Street

Several papers reflect on the 7 October attacks by Hamas in Israel, and subsequent war in Gaza, on the eve of the first anniversary.

Writing in the Sunday Times Sir Keir Starmer says one year ago we were unaware that the Middle East was about to be "plunged into a new and terrible darkness".

The prime minister also calls out what he describes as the "vile hatred" which has been seen against Jews and Muslims since then.

The Observer and the Sunday Express both focus on messages from the major faith leaders in Britain ahead of the anniversary. The papers say they've united to reject prejudice - in what has been described as a high level act of solidarity.

The Mail on Sunday features accounts from some of the people whose children were kidnapped by Hamas a year ago. One woman tells the paper she "cannot sleep" and "every night I'm thinking of them".

The Sunday Telegraph has spoken to the historian Simon Schama. It says he has "long chronicled the suffering of the Jewish people" but that nothing had prepared him for the attack by Hamas, describing it as a "punch to the soul".

In other news, the Observer says Labour's plans to impose 20% VAT on private school fees may not proceed as planned in January due to "warnings from unions, tax experts and school leaders". Numerous organisations within the education sector are said to be calling for a delay until September to give private schools more time to adapt. But in a statement the Treasury says there has been no change to the date.

The Times claims that Russian intelligence used a "honeytrap" to recruit an Irish politician as an agent for the Kremlin during the Brexit talks. It says one of the aims was to undermine relations between Britain, Ireland and the EU. The Irish military and security services have reportedly identified the agent but, in the words of the paper, the individual is "still at large" in the country's parliament.

The Sunday Mirror leads on government plans to invest in a blood test which could detect the twelve most common types of cancer before symptoms start to develop. The paper says it could be a "game changer".

According to the Sunday Times the disgraced breast surgeon Ian Paterson - who is currently serving a twenty year sentence for harming his patients - is to be stripped of his one million pound pension pot by the Health Secretary. The paper says Wes Streeting is using rules which allow NHS benefits to be forfeited "in the case of criminal, negligent or fraudulent acts".

And the Observer celebrates the actor Alasdair Buchan who's joining the West End cast of Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap - despite a legal run-in with the show in his youth. In 1997, at the age of 11, he directed his own version of the play at school, only for his teachers to receive a cease and desist letter from lawyers representing the London production.

He says the school managed to "smooth things over" and he points to his recent casting as proof he wasn't blacklisted by the producers. The paper sums up the story with the headline "Hedunnit".

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