Newspaper headlines: Ulez policy warning and police pledge on crime

1px transparent line
By BBC News
Staff
EPA

Council tax is to double for second homeowners, reports the Telegraph.

It says one in four councils in England are planning to make use of powers, which could come into force by 2025, that would allow them to charge more for second homes.

Some of the local authorities are in holiday hotspots such as Devon, Cornwall, the Lake District and Norfolk - and the paper estimates the councils could raise £200m ($250m).

The court ruling in favour of the expansion of the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) in London makes some of the front pages. The Mail says the prime minister is urging Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to "rein in" the Labour Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan - over the extension of the charges for the most polluting vehicles. Rishi Sunak calls it an "unnecessary burden" for "hard-working families".

The Guardian has been hearing from scientists who are warning against "watering down" measures aimed at "reducing traffic pollution". Senior children's doctors tell the paper they see the impact of poor air quality every day, and that some of their patients would not need to come to hospital if they did not live in a polluted city.

The Telegraph urges the government to show some "political bravery" by recalling Parliament and blocking the Ulez extension, while the Times says tackling climate change involves difficult trade-offs, something which politicians are reluctant to publicly acknowledge. The "i" thinks Mr Sunak is being punished in the polls for backtracking on net zero targets. It suggests Labour has increased its lead since last week's by-elections.

According to the Mirror, the mother of James Bulger - who was murdered by two children in 1993 - is furious about fake videos of her son. In the clips, the AI-generated image of James Bulger appears to describe what happened to him. Denise Bulger tells the Mirror that it "is bringing a dead child back to life" and that this is "absolutely disgusting". TikTok claims it has taken down a number of videos.

The Times says police forces will promise to investigate every crime report where there is a reasonable lead - after years of overlooking lower-level offences such as shoplifting and bike theft. The paper reports that police have been blaming austerity for their refusal to investigate some crimes, such as a shoplifting where less than £50 of goods were stolen. But the paper says it has been told by senior police sources that they now believe it was a mistake to view common crimes as low level because of the major impact they have on people's lives.

The Mail reports that a Taylor Swift concert was so noisy it managed to make the earth move. It says scientists measured the impact of the cheering, dancing and the PA system at a performance in Seattle, attended by 70,000 people. They found it created seismic activity equivalent to an earthquake with a magnitude of 2.3. The Mail headline is "Seismic Swift".