Newspaper headlines: NHS strike 'going to hurt' and Biden's Stormont hope
- Published
"Nineteen terror suspects among Channel arrivals, external" is the Daily Mail's front page headline. Security sources have told the paper that the foreign nationals - with links to groups including Islamic State - reached the UK illegally on small boats from northern France last year. The Mail says most of the group have since lodged asylum claims here - and cannot be deported due, in part, to human rights laws. The Home Office said it would not comment on individual cases or operational matters, but that action would be taken if someone "of national security interest" entered the UK as an illegal migrant.
The Daily Telegraph reports that UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is planning to hold the next general election in the autumn of next year, external - with October and November 2024 "provisionally circled". It says Downing Street believes that going to the polls then would give Mr Sunak the best chance of victory.
There is widespread coverage of the four-day strike by junior doctors across England. "Don't get ill!, external" is the stark warning from the Daily Express which quotes Dr Peter Carter, the former head of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) union, as saying: "The reality is, this is going to hurt."
The Times warns that the 96-hour walkout over pay will cause a month of disruption, external. The paper says NHS services will struggle to recover, and cancer care is expected to be one of the critical areas facing delays. The i reports that thousands more patients than expected will not be treated because of the strike. It points out that the government and the doctors' union, the British Medical Association (BMA), both claim they are willing to restart pay talks - but both are demanding concessions first.
Meanwhile the Daily Mirror reports on what it calls "the shocking truth" about junior doctors' wages. It says that - according to a new campaign by the BMA - they are being paid as little as £14 an hour, external to carry out vital operations. "Surely this is not fair?" asks the Mirror, adding that the Tories still refuse to start pay discussions.
The Department of Health says the campaign is "misleading" and does not take into account the additional earning capacity and pay progression available to junior doctors.
The Guardian says Tory "neglect" has been blamed for 3.6 million abandoned calls to NHS 111, external in England in the past 12 months. It says the helpline is supposed to make it quicker and easier for patients to get the right advice or treatment they need but the paper says data produced for the Liberal Democrats suggests that callers are waiting so long to speak to someone, nearly one in five give up. The government says it is increasing the number of NHS 111 call handlers to 4,800.
Finally, the Daily Star reports that astronauts will one day be able to make their own drugs and medicines in space. It says the "astro-pharmacy" labs will be critical to the success of future missions, especially long trips. "Dope me up Scotty, external," the paper's main headline reads.