Newspaper headlines: New Covid jab for autumn, and Heathrow chaos

By BBC News
Staff

The front of the Daily Mail warns of "air chaos" during the autumn school half-term break.

It says Heathrow Airport's decision to extend its cap on passenger numbers until October means that "up to one million seats could be axed" from flight schedules. The paper suggests that those with bookings have been "left in limbo", as airlines work with airport authorities to decide which flights are cancelled.

Under the headline "big boost", the Sun welcomes the announcement that the roll-out of coronavirus vaccine booster shots in the UK will begin next month. The paper concludes that "with all the other problems facing the NHS this winter, a Covid resurgence is the last thing we need".

The i newspaper agrees, suggesting that "there will have been signs of relief from the NHS and the Department of Health" when the new Moderna jab was approved on Monday.

The Daily Mirror also welcomes the news with the headline "just the jab".

But the online-only Independent has spotted a possible fly in the ointment.

Its headline is "Covid boosters at risk as GPs threaten boycott" and it has spoken to the leaders of what it describes as "major GP practices", who have suggested that a reduction in the payment for providing each jab coupled with rising costs and staff shortages could make the booster programme "unviable". There is no Department of Health or NHS England comment.

The Daily Telegraph accuses high street banks of failing to pass on the latest interest rise to millions of savers.

It reports that the UK's 10 largest banks have still not raised rates on their easy access savings accounts, two weeks after there was a 0.5 percentage point increase in the base rate. The Telegraph's leader column points out that it is "galling for millions who have endured 15 years of historically low returns to be denied what would still be, by historical standards, derisory returns".

According to the Financial Times, a new firm is to offer fixed rate mortgages of up to 50 years. The paper explains that in this country lenders usually offer a maximum term for such deals of 10 years. The company Perenna says it hopes to ease the stress caused by "soaring" interest rates.

The Guardian suggests ministers plan to "slash" redundancy pay for civil servants, while cutting more than 90,000 jobs.

The Prospect union is quoted saying that "no other employer, public or private, would propose reducing redundancy terms at the same time as savage job loss proposals".

But the Cabinet Office responds by saying "in the context of high national debt and increasing cost pressures, it's vital that all areas of government spending, including the civil service compensation scheme, are affordable as well as fair to both staff and the taxpayer".

Finally, the Times reports that climate change could in its words "uncork great British reds". The paper has details of a study which suggests parts of southern England could - because of global warming - become "ideal for making red wine from pinot noir grapes".

This is because higher temperatures are needed, so the grapes reach the "requisite ripeness for high-quality red wine".