The Home Office has been branded incompetent after asylum seekers were taken off the Bibby Stockholm barge due to the discovery of Legionella bacteria in its water supply, the Daily Telegraph reports. It writes Conservative MPs are furious over the situation, with one MP calling it an “embarrassment”. Meanwhile, the paper features the original 90s supermodels Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford returning to the cover of Vogue.
“Deadly bug on barge” headlines the Daily Mirror. It reports claims migrants were sent on the vessel even after the discovery of Legionella in the water supply. It quotes shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper saying the “asylum chaos is just getting worse and worse”. Footballer Harry Kane is pictured in Munich for a medical ahead of an £86m deal to sign for Bayern Munich.
Image source, Huw Evans picture agency
The Home Secretary Suella Braverman is under pressure to abandon plans to house asylum seekers on the barge, the Guardian reports. It observes the “embarrassing developments” come at the end of Rishi Sunak’s small boats week, which was meant to launch policies to cut the number of asylum seekers trying to enter the UK. England goalkeeper Mary Earps also features on the front page ahead of the Lionesses taking on Colombia in the Women’s World Cup quarter-finals in Sydney.
The Times says students will face a battle for housing, with some potentially starting term in hotels or bunk beds, due to universities being unable to guarantee accommodation. Analysis of 26 universities found that many were guaranteeing houses for students but with caveats, such as making the university their first choice.
The i reports on a “major security breach” at the Foreign Office after an employee downloaded malware meaning Chinese and Russian hackers were able to access emails and private messages.
The Daily Express leads on the ongoing junior doctors’ strike, saying the British Medical Association has been accused of striking to bring down the government.
The Daily Mail reports the health secretary is facing “pressure” to scrap “rules that mean patients who only occasionally identify as women can share female-only hospital wards”. Elsewhere, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson in his column tosses his hat in the ring to take on the winner of the much talked-about cage fight between tech bosses Elon Musk, of Tesla, and Mark Zuckerberg, of Meta.
The Financial Times Weekend leads on Saudi Arabia calling for the UK, Japan and Italy to allow it to become a full partner in the tri-nation fighter jet project. The FT observes the push has created strains in the alliance, with the UK and Italy open to Saudi membership and Japan opposed. The front page also features a striking image of burnt out homes on the Hawaiian island of Maui, where wildfires have claimed at least 55 lives.
“Rise of the sarnie psychos” headlines the Daily Star as it writes about people tucking into cold baked bean sandwiches.
“Deadly bug on barge” is the paper’s headline.
The Telegraph describes the situation as a “fiasco”, saying the Home Office is being accused of incompetence by both Conservative backbenchers and opposition MPs. The paper believes that there could be fresh calls for the government department to be split in two. It explains that some believe the Home Office is responsible for too many major policy areas, including crime, migration and the response to terrorism.
But the Express is more positive about the removal of the migrants from the barge. Its leader argues that the decision “shows health checks are in place and that the authorities act quickly when needed”. It concludes that the government must not end its efforts to provide alternative housing for asylum seekers.
There is a photograph on the front of the FT Weekend of the devastation caused by the wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui. The picture shows houses in the port of Lahaina that have been reduced to piles of grey ash – their swimming pools turned into blackened geometric shapes. “Paradise lost” is the headline.
Image source, Getty Images
Hundreds more have been reported missing in Hawaii and the death toll may still rise
“Lahaina’s famed banyan tree,” it states, “looms black as a lump of charcoal”. It also describes rows of burned-out cars abandoned on the roads, suggesting “a scene of chaotic desperation” as people tried to escape in their vehicles.
The paper suggests it was a “phishing” attack, in which an email which looks harmless – but contains malicious code – is opened by an employee. A former member of Foreign Office staff is quoted as saying attacks like this are a “daily occurrence”.
The problem is being caused in part by what the paper calls a “population bulge” – an increase in the number of 18-year-olds.
Image source, Getty Images
Bayern and Spurs agreed a deal worth more than 100m euros (£86.4m) for the 30-year-old on Thursday
It suggests the buyers might try to rush through the paperwork so the striker can feature in Saturday’s German Supercup final, between Bayern and RB Leipzig. The Daily Mail headline on the story is: “Kanes, planes and auf wiedersehens”.
