Newspaper headlines: PM's Ukraine speech and guards' conned by 'priest'

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By BBC News
Staff
Reuters

A refugee Ukrainian family stand after arriving at a registration centre for internally displaced people in Zaporizhzhia

The Guardian leads with a report that Home Secretary Priti Patel is facing what it calls a "mass legal action", on behalf of hundreds of Ukrainians, who are encountering delays in getting to the UK.

Charities have told the paper that a "chaotic" visa backlog is adding to the trauma of people fleeing the war.

The paper reports that only 15% of the 74,000 Ukrainians, who applied under the sponsorship scheme, have made it to Britain.

A government spokesperson has defended its response saying it launched one of the fastest and biggest visa schemes in UK history, and that visas are now being processed "as quickly as they come in".

Ukraine is ready for its "finest hour", is the headline on the front of the Daily Telegraph.

It is previewing a video speech Boris Johnson will make to Ukrainian MPs on Tuesday in which he'll announce more military aid and praise their country's resistance against the Russian invasion.

His words will echo Winston Churchill's 1940 address to Parliament, when he urged Britain to keep fighting Adolf Hitler.

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Alongside the main story, the Telegraph carries a warning that the Conservatives are braced for their worst local election results since the 1990s, when Tony Blair was leading the Labour party.

Based on survey predictions, it suggests the Tories could lose control of six councils - including their flagships, Wandsworth and Westminster - while Labour could gain 16 councils.

But the veteran pollster, Sir John Curtice, says the damage could be reduced by the limited number of seats being contested in Tory heartlands outside London.

"Where have our GPs gone?" is the question posed on the front of the Daily Mail.

It says figures show there is just one family doctor for every 2,200 patients, because of NHS staff shortages.

The government says it has made £520m available to expand general practice capacity during the pandemic.

The Times talks of "crumbling and filthy hospitals putting patients' lives at risk".

It says recent incidents include a patient on a ventilator being trapped in a broken lift for 35 minutes.

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Ronnie O'Sullivan's record equalling victory in the World Snooker Championship features on several front pages

A Department of Health spokesman tells the paper the government is "delivering the biggest hospital building programme in a generation".

The Times also reports that millions of people on final-salary pensions could lose thousands of pounds due to a surge in the cost of living. The paper says a failure to proof the benefits of such schemes against inflation means pensioners are set to suffer a £400 hit this year, and £7,000 over their lifetime.

The Sun leads with the story that a man posing as a priest stayed the night at army barracks near Windsor Castle, which are used by soldiers who protect the Queen.

The paper calls it "an astonishing security blunder". The Metro - which also leads on the story - describes it as "The Fail of the Sentry".

In sport several papers celebrate Ronnie O'Sullivan's record-equalling world snooker title. The "King" of the Crucible is in "Seventh heaven," declares the Daily Express.