Newspaper headlines: Sunak 'lays down law' and Lineker's 'Nazi jibe'

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By BBC News
Staff
Reuters

US officials now believe last year's attacks on the Nord Stream pipeline were organised by Ukrainians and Russians opposed to the war in Ukraine, the Times reports

Many of Wednesday's papers lead with reaction to the government's plans to effectively ban anyone who arrives in the UK illegally from claiming asylum as part of attempts to reduce Channel crossings.

The i says there's going to be a "showdown" over the issue, while the Times says Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is "ready to battle judges" through any legal challenges. In an editorial, the Sun says Britain "wants the small-boats scandal ended" and that Mr Sunak's plan is "the only game in town". The paper criticises Labour's response to the measures, saying the opposition offered "plenty of abuse, but no solutions".

Daily Express columnist Leo McKinstry also argues that the plan must be backed. He says the measures recognise the central factor encouraging the illicit crossings - that anyone who reaches our shores is likely to be allowed to stay. But the Guardian's parliamentary sketch writer, John Crace, says the latest attempt to stop the boats looks "hopelessly flawed and completely pointless". He believes that no-one will be deported for years because most cases will get held up in the courts.

On their front pages, the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail both say the BBC is under pressure to take action against Match of the Day host Gary Lineker after he tweeted that ministers' rhetoric about migrants was "not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s". The Telegraph says BBC management is furious and Conservative MP Craig Mackinlay tells the paper that Lineker should be sacked. The BBC said its staff were "aware of their responsibilities relating to social media".

According to the Daily Mirror, a deal to settle the pay dispute in the NHS could be reached by Thursday. The paper says there's optimism that the government will come up with an offer which unions will be happy to take back to their members. But the talks between the government and health unions exclude most doctors, and the British Medical Association is still planning a 72-hour walkout from Monday.

The Times highlights the assessment by US intelligence that Ukrainians and Russians opposed to President Putin's war are most likely to have organised attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipeline last September. However, Washington thinks Kyiv is unlikely to have been directly responsible. Officials say explosives were probably planted by experienced divers who weren't working for military or intelligence services at the time, although they might have received training in the past.

Reuters

EU regulators have told Twitter CEO Elon Musk to hire more human moderators and fact checkers, the Financial Times reports

The Telegraph carries more leaked WhatsApp messages exchanged between senior ministers and officials during the Covid pandemic, this time focusing on efforts to test vaccines in the first half of 2020. Separately, a report in the Times predicts that the most senior civil servant, Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, could be forced to resign when some of his messages are revealed in the coronavirus public inquiry. A source told the paper that Mr Case was "the most indiscreet man in government" and that some of his comments would be "impossible to defend."

The Financial Times says EU regulators have told Twitter owner Elon Musk he must hire more human moderators and fact checkers to prevent the spread of harmful material. Since buying the company in October, Mr Musk has sacked more than half its staff, including the entire trust and safety teams in some offices.