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Newspaper headlines: Queen's Speech 'backlash' and Fred West cops dig

By BBC News
Staff

Published
image captionThe Queen's Speech, in which the government set out its programme for the coming parliament, leads many of the papers. The Guardian reports that plans to introduce voter ID could freeze out more than two million voters. It says the plans for mandatory photo identification risks "disproportionately hitting older, disabled and homeless voters" who are less likely to have such documents. There is also room on the front page for the verdict from an inquest in Northern Ireland, which found that 10 people killed during a British Army operation were unarmed innocent civilians.
image caption"When will they show they care?" asks the Daily Mail as it says Boris Johnson has faced a massive backlash after devoting just nine words of the Queen's Speech to social care. The paper reports that "despite lengthy negotiations" No 10 and the Treasury have been unable to reach agreement on how to limit the amounts pensioners have to pay towards their own care.
image captionThe Times leads on attacks on "cancel culture" in the Queen's Speech, as it says the government is introducing laws to protect university free speech. The paper says the new laws will make it easier for visiting speakers to take action against universities and student unions if they are gagged.
image captionThe Daily Express refers to the prime minister's promise to make Britain a "land of opportunity". Alongside a picture of the Queen, it says the speech unveiled 30 key laws to "help Britain 'bounce forward' to prosperity".
image captionThe Metro carries a main image of the monarch as it says she is "back in the office... at 95". The paper says the Queen was alone on the throne for the first time since her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, died.
image captionThe Financial Times chooses to focus on lobbying by former Prime Minister David Cameron on behalf of Greensill Capital, after the company's founder Lex Greensill went before the Treasury Select Committee on Tuesday. The paper says Mr Cameron, who is due to go before the same committee on Thursday, "deluged Whitehall" in a lobbying bid, according to documents produced by the committee. The FT, which has followed the story closely, says Mr Greensill denied he was a "fraudster" during three hours of "robust questioning" from MPs.
image captionThe same story leads the i, under the headline "Cameron's 47 attempts to use Covid to lobby UK government". It says the full scale of the ex-PM's behaviour at the start of the pandemic has been "laid bare".
image captionThe Daily Telegraph reports that social media firms that fail to protect children from online harms will be shut down under new laws to be unveiled by Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden. In an article for the paper, Mr Dowden warns tech giants that they will have "no excuses" and "must face the consequences" if they fail to remove illegal or harmful content. It also reports on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex signing a long-term "global partnership" with US consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble.
image captionThe Sun says that a dig is under way at a café where serial killer Fred West was a regular and did building work. The paper says Mary Bastholm, one of his suspected victims, is feared to be buried in the basement of the building in Gloucester. There is also a front page picture of singer Dua Lipa who picked up two Brit awards on Tuesday evening.
image caption"Cops dig for Fred West victim" is the Daily Mirror's take on the story. It says police officers have "potentially important evidence" linked to Mary, 15, who vanished in 1968.
image captionThe Daily Star continues to plough its own furrow, as it leads on a story that plans to celebrate the D-Day landings with a re-enactment on a Devon beach have been axed because "it's a bit wet and windy". The headline is: "We shan't fight them on the beaches."

The Daily Mail says Boris Johnson is facing a "massive backlash" after devoting just nine words to social care in the Queen's Speech.

The paper says it's disgraceful that no reforms were announced - asking in its headline - "When Will They Show They Care?"

The answer, it suggests, is when the Treasury and No 10 can agree a strategy. The Mail says lengthy negotiations between the two have failed to produce results. And it's not alone in being unimpressed. Almost all of this morning's papers use their editorials to criticise the government for not coming forward with concrete proposals.

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image captionThe government has been criticised in the press for a lack of concrete proposals on social care

The Times says ministers are calling time on student cancel culture, with measures intended to protect freedom of speech at universities.

The paper says it's the first time that student unions face being taken to court, if they gag - or "no platform" - visiting speakers.

The measures would only apply in England - but the main story for the Times' Scottish edition illustrates the debate. It says the Principal of Edinburgh University is being urged to resign after being accused by academics of bowing to "political zealots".

As an example, the paper cites the university's decision last year to rename David Hume Tower - because of the 18th century philosopher's racist views, and involvement in the slave trade.

image copyrightPA Media
image captionThe violence between Israel's military and Palestinian militants has escalated

Escalating violence in Israel and Gaza prompts the Haaretz newspaper to strongly criticise Benjamin Netanyahu - saying his strategy of exclusion and discrimination has blown up in Israel's face. The paper says he should be replaced urgently, with someone capable of real dialogue with the Arab leadership.

The Jerusalem Post believes the Israeli government has done nothing wrong - apart from allowing Hamas to gain the upper hand. It calls on world leaders to side with Israel in order - it says - that Hamas and the Palestinians learn that terrorism doesn't pay.

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The Daily Mirror and the Sun lead on the search at a café in Gloucester for a missing teenager who, it's believed, could have been murdered by Fred West more than 50 years ago. The Sun says the alarm was raised when a documentary crew - led by Sir Trevor McDonald - brought a dog trained to locate human remains into the café's basement.

Some of the papers pick up on a call from the former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, for all non-EU migration into France to be banned for up to five years.

The Telegraph says he's positioning himself to challenge Emmanuel Macron from the centre-right, in next year's presidential elections. For the Sun, Monsieur Barnier has been reborn as the Nigel Farage of Paris. But the Times believes he's casting himself as a French Joe Biden - a seasoned veteran who's needed to restore calm.

image copyrightPA Media
image captionThe Daily Express and Daily Star report on a re-enactment of the D-Day landings being cancelled

Finally, the Daily Express and the Daily Star report that a popular re-enactment of the D-Day landings, held at a beach in Devon, won't go ahead this year - because of blown sand and surface water.

The organisers tell the Express the site is "downright dangerous" and could damage vintage vehicles. The Star can't resist comparing modern attitudes towards health and safety with the spirit of the Normandy invasion - calling the organisers a "bunch of lemons" - and complaining, they don't make 'em like they used to.