Newspaper headlines: Inflation fears of 'Tough times' and 'crime surge'

Rishi SunakPA Media

Rishi Sunak warned the next few months "will be tough" in a speech to businesses

By BBC News
Staff

The Daily Mirror says soaring inflation is causing untold misery and the poorest are hit the hardest.

The charity Citizens Advice is highlighting desperate stories of people washing in their kitchen sinks because they can't afford a hot shower.

"It's impossible! Pensioners can't cope with 9% inflation" is the main headline in the Daily Express. The paper is calling for urgent help for pensioners.

The Silver Voices group, which campaigns on behalf of people over the age of 60, warns that thousands could die because they can't afford the essentials for a healthy life.

According to the Daily Mail, the government is considering a triple tax cut. One of them was announced by Mr Sunak, who said he'd reduce tax for firms to prompt them to invest.

He might also announce in July a council tax cut to help people pay higher energy prices.

According to the paper, an emergency tax cut for poorer families is also being considered, possibly through a change to universal credit rules.

The former Conservative Chancellor Lord Clarke tells the Independent website Mr Sunak's measures so far are failing to help the poor while rewarding the better-off.

Lord Clarke described the 5p fuel duty cut and a promised 1p reduction in income tax - as a "complete waste of time". He said Mr Sunak should increase universal credit payments.

The Times says it's learned that No 10 is blocking proposals for a windfall tax on energy companies.

The paper says Mr Sunak is increasingly in favour of the levy and Treasury officials believe it's "politically unavoidable" - but Boris Johnson's advisers argue the tax would be "ideologically unconservative" because it could be seen as an attack on business.

The chief inspector of constabulary Andy Cooke has told has told the Guardian that the cost-of-living-crisis will trigger an increase in crime and offences.

He said officers should use discretion when deciding whether to prosecute people who steal in order to eat, although he insisted he wasn't giving carte blanche for people who go out shoplifting.

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The Daily Telegraph warns middle class and recreational drug users that they could be banned from going on foreign holidays.

Writing in the paper, policing minister Kit Malthouse says those who continue to flout the law would face "increasingly painful" and "escalating" sanctions - and the papers suggests those could include the temporary removal of passports or driving licences.

Details of the proposals will be in a White Paper to be published in the summer.

'Disastrous'

The Sun says the footballer Jamie Vardy and his wife Rebekah are planning to move to the US after her libel trial against Coleen Rooney, who is married to the former England captain, Wayne Rooney.

EPA

The so-called Wagatha Christie row brow out in 2019 after Coleen Rooney said fake stories were leaked that had only been seen by the Instagram account of Mrs Vardy, pictured here outside court

The paper the describes Mrs Vardy's case as "disastrous" and says she and her husband want to leave the UK whatever the outcome of the trial.

And finally, the Times urges men to hug their wives and girlfriends in the morning before they rush out of the front door.

The paper says scientists in Germany and the Netherlands have found that an embrace at this time, helps protect women from feelings of stress that might develop during the day.