Newspaper headlines: NHS pay deal and 'Banks try to reassure investors'

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By BBC News
Staff
PA Media

The findings of a report on the culture of the Metropolitan Police are "horrible" and "atrocious" and show the force is "in the last chance saloon", according to the Guardian

Many of Friday's papers lead on a deal reached between union leaders and the government that would give NHS staff a 5% pay rise from April plus a one-off payment of at least £1,655 for this year.

The i says the deal signals an "end to a wave of public sector strikes". The Daily Express hails the deal as a breakthrough for common sense and urges union members to back it, while the Metro says there is now hope a winter of industrial action may soon be over.

The online Independent says leaked figures show this week's strike by junior doctors - who would not covered by the new pay deal - could cost the NHS more than £90m. It says the figure represents the cost of covering 25,000 shifts a day at a rate of between £158 and £262 an hour.

Sources with knowledge of the Casey report, which has been looking into the culture of the Metropolitan Police, have told the Guardian that its findings are "horrible" and "atrocious" and show the force is "in the last chance saloon". The paper has been told the report finds that Wayne Couzens, who murdered Sarah Everard, and David Carrick, another officer jailed for numerous rapes, were not one-offs, but symptoms of serious failings. The Met Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, has already promised to change the force. Scotland Yard has declined to comment until the report is published next week.

The Times carries a YouGov poll that suggests only 6% of people think the Budget delivered on Wednesday will make them better off, while more than half think their financial situation will get worse this year. The paper says scrapping the lifetime allowance for pensions is seen by 37% as good and by an equal number as the wrong priority. The Daily Telegraph says Labour's pledge to reinstate the pension cap would throw the financial industry into turmoil.

The Financial Times says struggling banks on both sides of the Atlantic are racing to reassure clients that they can withstand problems. The paper says there has been a "global rout" in stocks. "Don't be fooled, the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank is just the start," warns Times columnist Gerard Baker. He says that, along with death and taxes, the only other certainty is a regular financial crisis, and that "these things are rarely over when the government wants us to believe they are".

The Times says there is speculation about a boycott of the BBC Proms over the abolition of the Singers, the UK's only professional chamber choir

The Daily Mail declares that Oxfam's new guide for its staff on inclusive language is "bizarre". It says the 92-page document advises against using the word "mother" and warns that "headquarters" could be seen as a "colonial" phrase. The paper calls it "the guidance that'll leave you thinking satire is dead". In a statement, Oxfam says the guide is not prescriptive, but is designed to help people communicate in a way that is respectful.

The Times says the BBC has been warned that the abolition of the UK's only professional chamber choir, the Singers, puts Britain's "peerless choral tradition at risk". A letter to the paper expressing "utter dismay" about the decision has been signed by a number of music industry professionals, who say the cuts are a "false economy". The paper says there is speculation that protests about the plan could lead to a boycott of the Proms.