The findings of the first report of the public inquiry into Covid have received widespread coverage in today’s newspapers.
“They let us all down” says the headline. Daily MirrorNext to a picture of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson wearing a face mask. Watchman Quotes from the report, which says UK Covid planning was “fatally flawed”. the sun She says Covid shortcomings in the UK led to 235,000 deaths. But she says the only real mistake successive health ministers made was to accept the flimsy assurances of the health experts who advised them.
times “The lack of imagination among politicians and scientists alike… was not enough to consider the full range of potential catastrophic scenarios when there was still time to do something about them,” the report says. It says this must not happen again. Daily Express He agrees and says, “Next time, we have to be prepared.”
I, Financial Times And Daily Telegraph All the reports are about Democrats trying to get US President Joe Biden to end his re-election campaign. The Telegraph reported that Biden could step down by the end of the week. It quoted a friend of the president as saying: “I pray to God he does the right thing. He is heading that way.”
The i editorial says Biden’s aides “were harboring growing concerns about his suitability for the campaign and ultimately for the highest office.” The Financial Times says senior Democrats are lobbying behind the scenes, but says Biden’s campaign team is defending him fiercely, insisting he stay in the race.
“The Judge Who Spoken for All of Us at Eco-Fanatics” is the headline on the front page of daily MailBelow are pictures of the five environmental protesters who were sentenced to up to five years in prison on Thursday for blocking the M25 for four days. But there is criticism of the sentences in timesThe newspaper quotes businessman Dale Vince as saying that the prison sentences – the longest ever handed down to peaceful protesters – “cannot be right”, given the severe overcrowding in prisons. In the opinion of George Monbiot, a columnist in the Guardian newspaper, “these sentences are the kind you would expect in Russia or Egypt.”
The graphic writers focus on Sir Ed Davey’s appearance in the Post Office Horizon investigation. In daily MailQuentin Letts said it was fortunate that the appearance had come after the general election. Had Thursday’s “disturbing” session come before polling day, the Lib Dems “might have been in trouble”.
To John Kress in Watchman“Sometimes this was a fluctuating Ed. Other times, a confused Ed. An Ed who couldn’t believe what had happened to him.”
Tom Beck in times “I looked into those same eyes myself,” says Sir Ed, his eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched. “As the man held himself up to be launched into a giant pendulum 80 feet in the air. I saw them swerve around a high corner at 68mph and turn into the only four-barrel roller coaster section anywhere in Europe. It’s only now that I realise I’ve never seen the man so nervous.”
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