BBC News

Newspaper headlines: EU will 'grab your jabs' and tough migrant stance

By BBC News
Staff

Published
image caption"We'll grab your jabs" is the headline on the Metro, which says the EU has threatened to block exports of Covid vaccines. The paper says that despite several EU countries halting the use of Oxford-AstraZeneca jabs, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the company has slashed the number of UK-made vaccines it will deliver to the bloc. She has threatened "reciprocity" by making up the shortfall by stopping shipments of the Belgian-made Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to the UK.
image captionThe Daily Telegraph says a vaccine shortage is "to paralyse rollout", meaning under-50s will have to wait for their jabs. Government sources have told the paper that manufacturing issues mean the supply of vaccines will largely be used for second doses for those who have already received a first jab.
image captionThe Daily Express says the vaccine row is proof that the "EU will never let it go" and describes Ursula von der Leyen's threat to stop shipments of vaccines to the UK as "highly provocative".
image captionThe same story leads the Financial Times, which says that NHS targets are in peril after a "significant reduction" in supplies. It says that Health Secretary Matt Hancock has played down the threat. The front page also carries a picture of former No10 aide Dominic Cummings, who it says has taken a swing at the health department.
image captionAlongside an image of Matt Hancock, the Times says he is being accused of denial and the supply news is a setback for Britain's vaccine rollout. The health secretary said the country was still "on track" to hit its vaccination targets and take England out of lockdown, the paper reports. It also features a story on asylum seekers being sent abroad under plans to deter migrants to be published by Home Secretary Priti Patel next week.
image captionThe asylum seeker story leads the Daily Mail, which says the "radical plan" will see arrivals who "cross the Channel illegally" sent to another country. The paper says Priti Patel plans to take a tougher stance on unauthorised migration to stop people-smugglers exploiting desperate migrants.
image captionThe Guardian also leads on the vaccination shortages, which it says have been branded "disappointing and frustrating" by the Royal College of GPs. The paper also continues its call for a public inquiry into the government's handling of the pandemic - with families bereaved by Covid-19 warning they will start legal action against the government.
image captionThe i reports that those aged 50 and over are still invited to make vaccination appointments despite the slump in supplies. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has accused the EU of behaving like a dictatorship, the paper says.
image captionThe Daily Star continues its habit of mocking-up its front page, with a picture of Dominic Cummings controlling a Boris Johnson puppet. The headline is "I was pulling all the strings".
image captionThe Daily Mirror leads on the story that entertainer Michael Barrymore is to be quizzed again by police over the death of a man in the star's pool 20 years ago. It comes after a 50-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday. Mr Barrymore, 68, has always denied any involvement in Stuart Lubbock's death.

"Surprise slump" is how the i describes the expected drop in supplies of coronavirus vaccine in England next month.

The paper quotes one person "closely involved" in the immunisation programme, who says they had no advance warning of the impending slowdown - while government sources tells the Guardian that the "looming squeeze" in availability of the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab is "far worse than predicted".

The Financial Times says it's a "big setback" for a programme it calls "one of the few successes" of Boris Johnson's response to the pandemic.

It points out there may be further trouble ahead - as officials in Whitehall are concerned about "significant manufacturing issues" with the Moderna vaccine, which was due to roll out in the spring.

Other papers lead on the EU's warning that it could stop sending new batches of vaccine to countries like the UK.

"We'll Grab Your Jabs" is the headline in the Metro - which says the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, may halt exports of Pfizer vials made in Belgium and Germany unless supplies to the EU of the AstraZeneca vaccine improve.

The Daily Express thinks it's a "highly provocative move" - while the Spectator website suggests that commandeering private property is "something usually reserved for wars".

The New Statesman insists the EU's problems are "no cause for Schadenfreude", but agrees that Brussels is behaving irresponsibly. "The continent that casts itself as a beacon of internationalism", it says, "has succumbed to petty chauvinism".

image copyrightPA Media
image captionMany papers focus on the expected drop in vaccine supplies in England as well as the ongoing row between the EU and UK over jabs

The back pages focus on yesterday's damning report into historical failings by the Football Association to protect children from paedophiles. The Daily Mail calls it the "FA's Day Of Shame" - and hopes a "small few may find closure" in its apology for "an appalling absence of care and curiosity".

But the Daily Mirror says that while the sport can "sombrely reflect" on Clive Sheldon QC's review and "move forward", "hundreds and hundreds" of survivors and their families cannot do the same.

The Sun thinks football has been "irrevocably damned and stained" by the scandal, and says it's important the truth "finally emerged".

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The Daily Telegraph reports on an apparent breakthrough in research into infertility and early miscarriage. For the first time, a team led by Australian experts has created human embryo-like structures out of skin cells - so it can model what happens in the days after an egg is fertilised.

It hopes to make and study hundreds of thousands of these so-called "blastoids" - rather than relying on a small number of embryos donated by IVF clinics.

image copyrightPA Media
image captionThe Times reports that the Mayor of Bayeux is happy to loan his town's famous tapestry to the UK as long as it pays for repairs

And the Times says an offer made by France three years ago to lend Britain the Bayeux Tapestry now comes with strings attached.

The Mayor of Bayeux, Patrick Gomont, tells the paper that he's still happy to loan out the medieval embroidery - providing the UK pays for the repair of tens of thousands of stains, folds, rips and holes, at a cost of £1.7m.

Mr Gomont isn't bothered on which side of the Channel the restoration takes place. "If you are going to roll it up and move it somewhere", he says, "it doesn't make any difference whether you take it 100 metres or 100 kilometres."