Newspaper headlines: 'China security risk' and 'Couzens police failings'

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By BBC News
Staff
Reuters

Mysterious objects in the sky occupy many front pages. The Daily Mail says Rishi Sunak is under growing pressure to take a harder line on China, with Conservative MPs saying he should formally designate Beijing a "threat".

The 'i' says the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, says the row is leading to calls to increase defence spending. Former military leaders are quoted saying a failure to do so would also embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Times reports that the RAF will examine intelligence gathered by the US military - to see if it can improve its quick reaction force.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the use of Chinese-made drones by British police forces has provoked security fears within the government. The paper says more than two-thirds of the drones are made by a Chinese firm that is blacklisted in the US. The Telegraph's leader column questions whether adequate safeguards are in place.

The Daily Star picks up on the admission by a US Air Force general that he was not ruling out aliens. Its front page depicts ET. Its editorial describes the comment as a "major step forward in our dealings with the extra-terrestrial".

There is dismay in the Express that millions of households face the maximum possible council tax increase. The paper says it is a further blow to those already hit hard by higher bills. Its editorial acknowledges that councils' budgetary pressures are down to funding shortfalls - but argues that spendthrift authorities are culpable too.

The online-only Independent has an article by a former CBI President who declares Labour to be the party of business. It says Paul Drechsler, who was also an adviser to David Cameron, "showers praise" on the party - something it describes as a "hammer blow" for the Tories.

The Guardian leads on the former Metropolitan police officer, Wayne Couzens, pleading guilty to charges of indecent exposure. The offences happened days before he kidnapped and murdered Sarah Everard. The paper says detectives missed "clear chances" to identify him as a potential sex offender.

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On its front page, the Times reports that water companies privately lobbied to weaken the government's tougher sewage rules. It suggests that they argued the £56bn plan - to reduce sewage spills from storm overflows - risked adding hundreds of pounds to household bills. It quotes various objections the companies raised, such as opinion polls indicating that inflation was a greater concern for the public than the environment. The paper's editorial argues that if Britain is to enjoy the levels of water quality that many other European countries take for granted, then customer bills must be permitted to rise.

And finally, the Telegraph suggests that a new Brexit deal could be announced within a fortnight. It has been told by sources in both Brussels and London that a pact has been thrashed out. The paper suggests progress has been made because "the UK watered down its hard-line resistance to European judges ruling on issues in Northern Ireland". Downing Street, it says, has stressed that elements of an agreement are "still moving" - but did not deny that an announcement was expected soon.