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The Times: Move criminals to open prisons, ministers urged
A range of stories make Friday’s front pages including The Times which splashes on comments from a former Conservative justice secretary, David Gauke, about sending convicts to open prisons to ease crowding. Gauke, who is reviewing sentencing policy for the new Labour government, says he is taking lessons from Spain, where reforms have cut prison numbers and reoffending.
Financial Times: Russia accused of shooting down Azerbaijan passenger plane
Friday’s Financial Times leads with US and regional officials saying Russian anti-aircraft fire could have caused an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane to crash in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day. The lead story is accompanied by an image of a sniffer dog and emergency specialists investigating near the crash site close to Aktau.
Daily Telegraph: Tory war with Farage over fake members
Nigel Farage poses in a picture on the front of the Daily Telegraph clutching a pint next to some horses as the Reform leader joined the Boxing Day hunt in Elham, Kent. The Telegraph also leads with the clash between Farage and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch – with claims an online membership tracker is “coded to tick up automatically” as numbers surpass last known Tory total.
Daily Mail: A new quango every week since Labour victory
Dominating the front page of the Daily Mail is an image of James Corden and Ruth Jones as Gavin and Stacey topped the Christmas Day TV ratings. The finale attracted an average of 12.3 million TV viewers – the largest Christmas Day audience in more than a decade – and even “trumped the King”, the paper says.
The Guardian: NHS at risk of paralysis while waiting for Wes Streeting’s reforms
Domining the front page of The Guardian is an image of people taking part in a Boxing Day charity swim in the Firth of Clyde to raise funds for Ayrshire Cancer Support. The paper leads with a story on the NHS being “at risk of paralysis while waiting for Wes Streeting’s reforms”, according to the thinktank Institute for Public Policy Research.
Daily Star: Gale force UK
Finally, the Daily Star carries a weather warning as its lead story, reporting that US hurricanes are to send “wild storms and chilling temperatures” to the UK at the start of 2025.
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