Newspaper headlines: 'Starmer backs attack ad' and 'coronation details'

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By BBC News
Staff
PA Media

The Daily Telegraph reports that GP surgeries across England are suspending routine appointments for up to a week, to try to deal with the NHS strike by junior doctors. The paper says NHS trusts have encouraged patients to continue to contact their GPs, but that it has seen evidence that some practices have scrapped services during the strike. The Telegraph says this means that the impact of the four-day walkout "will be wider than first feared". The "i" says pharmacists - along with GPs and matrons - are being drafted in to "offset hospital strike chaos", as the paper puts it.

The Daily Mirror leads with what it calls a "hospital trek scandal". It says a survey for the Liberal Democrats has found that a third of people in England who've called 999 have had to make their own way to A and E, because of record waits for ambulances. The Department of Health and Social Care tells the paper it does not recognise the figures.

Labour's controversial ad campaign - which claims the prime minister doesn't think child sex abusers should go to prison - continues to get front page coverage. The Daily Mail talks of "Tory anger" and "cynical smear tactics that demean Sir Keir". In an article in the paper, the Labour leader accuses Rishi Sunak and successive Tory governments of having "let criminals get away with it, because they don't get it". The Times says Labour is planning what it calls more "provocative and aggressive" adverts, which will blame Rishi Sunak "for crashing the economy and for soaring mortgage and council tax rates". The paper claims to have seen further ads - and quotes an ally of Sir Keir Starmer as saying: "You ain't seen nothing yet."

The Guardian leads with the findings of what it calls "the biggest and most comprehensive survey on race inequality in the UK for more than 25 years". The paper reports that more than a third of people from ethnic and religious minorities have experienced racially-motivated physical or verbal abuse in their lifetime. It says the two-year study concludes that the UK "is not close to being a racially just society".

The Daily Express focuses on the closure of bank branches. It accuses banks of betraying loyal customers - and says a survey has found that "millions" prefer dealing with someone in person rather than an online service. It adds that it is not just older account holders who feel this way.

The Financial Times says there are signs the global economy could avoid a sharp slowdown this year. Research for the paper suggests the US, the eurozone, China, India and the UK were all growing faster than expected late last year, although it cautions that the threat of inflation persists.

And finally, the Sun reports that the King will be able to enjoy his ride to the coronation next month "in comfort". It says the modern royal carriage taking him and the Queen Consort to Westminster Abbey will have air conditioning and shock absorbers. However, the paper warns of a bumpy return trip to Buckingham Palace - in an 18th century carriage. "Shake, rattle and royal," quips the paper.