Newspaper headlines: Baby in 'tent terror' and poor pupils 'hit hardest'

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By BBC News
Staff
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The Times leads with a report that gunfire and clashes, involving migrants "desperate" to get to the UK, broke out in Dunkirk in the hours before a small boat sank in the Channel, killing six people.

A teenager, who attempted the journey on Friday, tells the paper that chaos spread through the camp as Afghans sought places on boats provided by Kurdish networks. The Times says Kurdish gangs are still advertising people-smuggling routes on social media, despite the latest loss of life in the Channel.

The Guardian says pupils from lower income backgrounds are likely to "bear the brunt" of what it calls "grade deflation", when this year's A-level and GCSE results are published.

It says the gap in top grades - between disadvantaged students and their better-off peers - is expected to widen for the second year in a row, after exam boards were "ordered" to return to grading last seen in 2019. Experts tell the Guardian that the government's decision to impose pre-pandemic grading in England is premature.

The Daily Telegraph carries a warning from more than 40 leading charities and experts that children are being "silenced" by the Covid Inquiry and must not be ignored.

The paper says that Save the Children UK and the NSPCC are among the groups to have written to Baroness Hallet, who's chairing the inquiry to take issue with what they regard as "unacceptable delays" in examining the pandemic's impact on young people.

A spokesman for the inquiry tells the Telegraph that Lady Hallett is "committed to investigating the impacts on children and young people" and will do so as soon as possible.

According to the i, a "surprise hike" in inflation next month will boost the state pension. The rate in September is one of the figures that can be used to calculate state pension payments from the following April.

The paper says this will mean that the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has less room to manoeuvre on tax cuts. But the i goes on to say that the Treasury is urging backbench Conservative MPs to remain patient and wait for lower taxes.

The demand for pawnbroking has hit "record levels" because of high inflation, reports the Financial Times. It says people are turning to pawnbrokers to borrow against assets such as jewellery and watches, as options for short-term loans shrink.

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The boss of the UK's biggest operator, H&T Group, tells the FT that "supply of small-sum credit is constrained now in a way it hasn't been for many years".

The Daily Express claims that a "Brexit boost" is bringing business back to Britain. According to the paper, a quarter of UK manufacturers say they have "repatriated" the production of goods. The Express calls it a sign that British manufacturing can again become a significant global player.

The Daily Mirror and the Metro both lead on what they call the "miracle escape" of a baby, when a car careered into a campsite in Pembrokeshire.

"Baby in hols tent terror," is the Mirror's headline. The campsite owner tells the Metro that the baby's cot probably shielded the child from the impact, and the family are "now doing OK" after the ordeal.