The Sunday People also leads with the Magdeburg attack and alleged missed opportunities by the police. Its front page picture shows the mass of floral tribute laid out in the city. [BBC]
The Sunday Times says Germany had been given “multiple warnings” by Saudi Arabia over the “market killer” . It also has a story on the continuing Guinness shortages in the UK after the drink has taken off among younger drinkers. [BBC]
The Sunday Telegraph leads with a story on how a new “grocery tax” designed to boost net zero targets could push up household shopping bills. [BBC]
The Observer says ministers are resisting efforts to block the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, handing millions to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage. [BBC]
The Mail on Sunday calls Chancellor Rachel Reeves “the Grinch”, claiming that the rise in employer National Insurance announced in the Budget has effectively resulted in the government “stealing” 45% of charitable donations. [BBC]
The Sunday Express has a story on how the UK will just have “one lone aircraft carrier” to deploy if the country is attacked due to “budget cuts and a shortage of sailors”. [BBC]
N-Dubz star Tulisa has spoken to the Sunday Mirror about suffering anxiety attacks on the recent series of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! [BBC]
And the Daily Star Sunday leads with the claim that Ronnie Kray “killed Marilyn Monroe”. The paper says the Kray twin’s former PR “reckons he heard” a confession from the notorious London gangster. [BBC]
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Most of Sunday’s newspapers report that the Saudi doctor suspected of driving a car into a busy Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, had warned on social media that something big was going to happen. “Free to kill” is the headline of the Sun on Sunday. The Mail on Sunday describes him as a softly spoken psychiatrist, who was unfailingly polite in his brief exchanges with his neighbours, while expressing a kaleidoscope of paranoiac views in his posts on social media.
According to the Observer, the government is resisting demands to rush through measures to block Elon Musk from handing millions of pounds to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party. The paper says ministers are facing calls to urgently limit the amount of money a foreign national can donate via their UK-based companies, but there are concerns at the heart of government that any hurried attempt could hand Farage the chance to claim that his party was being sabotaged by the establishment.
In his column in the Sunday Times, Rod Liddle criticises those calling for tighter rules to prevent Elon Musk from donating to Reform. He says he is staggered by what he calls the conviction among our liberal elite that challenges to the established Conservative-Labour order must be strangled at birth.
The Sunday Telegraph says the government’s plan to introduce a levy on packaging could cost an average household up to £56 a year. The paper says the scheme would see retailers and manufacturers charged per tonne of packaging material they use and the cost for plastic wrapping would be higher than for paper or cardboard. A spokesman for the government said it was determined to tackle our throwaway society and stop the avalanche of rubbish that is filling up the streets.
On its front page the Mail says 45p in every pound donated to charity now goes to the government because of tax increases announced in October’s Budget. The shadow paymaster general, Richard Holden, tells the paper that Chancellor Rachel Reeves is a modern-day Grinch – the mean-spirited Doctor Seuss character who steals a whole town’s Christmas gifts. The Treasury said its tax regime for charities was among the most generous in the world.
Writing in the Times, Health Secretary Wes Streeting says he feels both pride and shame after visiting a number of emergency departments in recent days to see first-hand the pressure the NHS is under. He says he is proud of the people who work in the NHS and ashamed after seeing patients being treated on trolleys in corridors. Streeting says the health service is “broken but not beaten” and he can see the road to recovery in the New Year.
The Sunday Express claims that Britain would be able to deploy only one of its two aircraft carriers if we were attacked by a hostile power such as Russia. The paper says budget cuts and a shortage of sailors mean that one of the carriers, Queen Elizabeth, will in effect be left in a dock, from where it would require a full six months’ notice to prepare for action. A Royal Navy spokesman said it was fully committed to operating both carriers.
And finally the Telegraph says the King has been named the second hardest working royal this year, despite receiving treatment for cancer. He took part in 186 engagements, while his sister, the Princess Royal was first, with 217.