Newspaper headlines: Hunt for Titanic sub and mortgage rates rise

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By BBC News
Staff
Lotus Eyes Photography

British adventurer Hamish Harding is one of five people on board a submarine that has gone missing while on a dive to the wreck of the Titanic

Most of Tuesday's front pages focus on what both the Daily Mail and the Daily Express call the "frantic" search for the submersible that has disappeared while diving to the wreck of the Titanic.

The Mail says the sub - among whose five passengers is British billionaire Hamish Harding - could be 12,500ft (3800m) down with "air running out". The Express says rescuers are in a "race against time", while the Sun says the "lost sub" has air until Thursday.

The Daily Telegraph carries a picture of Mr Harding that he posted to social media two days before the dive. Mr Harding's cousin, Kathleen Cosnett, tells the paper she was "devastated" to learn he was on the sub. The Times says the 58-year-old entrepreneur had posted images from the mission to the shipwreck only hours before the international rescue began.

The Daily Mirror carries pictures of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and two of his predecessors, David Cameron and Boris Johnson, alongside the headline: "Shame on you". The page combines three stories: Mr Cameron's evidence to the Covid inquiry on the UK's pandemic preparedness, Mr Sunak's decision not to take part in the parliamentary vote on the Privileges Committee report into Boris Johnson, and the news that police may issue further fines in connection with a video showing a party at Tory HQ in December 2020.

The Guardian says Conservative infighting over Boris Johnson reached a new level of intensity last night, with his supporters being told to hang their heads in shame. The paper says Mr Johnson now faces losing his parliamentary pass after what it calls a "fractious" debate on his conduct.

EPA

Experts have warned that mortgage costs are expected to remain high until 2025

The Times reports that Mr Johnson wants a "ceasefire" with Mr Sunak. It follows what the paper calls "friendly fire" in the Commons and MPs voting overwhelmingly to back the findings of the Partygate report. A source close to Mr Johnson tells the Times he wants to improve his relationship with Mr Sunak and has all but given up on making a political comeback before the next election. "But all of this is conditional on the Sunak government leaving him alone," the source adds.

The Financial Times warns of mounting pressure on homeowners - and a growing political risk for the government - after the average cost of a two-year fixed-rate mortgage topped 6%. According to the i, mortgage rates are set to remain high until 2025. The paper says Mr Sunak will make a speech to reassure the public that finances "are back on track" after a new interest rate rise is announced on Thursday.

And the Daily Star leads with comments from Liz Truss, who has said a live stream set up by the paper to see if a head of lettuce could outlast her tenure in Downing Street was "puerile". The paper's front page labels the former prime minister a "fun sponge" and says that, even if she didn't find the stunt funny, the "rest of the world" did.