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| Newspaper headlines: EU olive branch and PM targets 'sick note culture' | Newspaper headlines: EU olive branch and PM targets 'sick note culture' |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| A number of the papers lead on plans from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to challenge what he describes as Britain's "sick note culture". The Daily Express says Mr Sunak will use a speech on Friday to unveil an overhaul of the welfare system intended to curb the rising cost of benefits. It says he will demand a switch to a "can do" attitude to encourage the long-term jobless back to work and declare that everyday "life worries" should not be accepted as a medical reason for being unable to work. | A number of the papers lead on plans from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to challenge what he describes as Britain's "sick note culture". The Daily Express says Mr Sunak will use a speech on Friday to unveil an overhaul of the welfare system intended to curb the rising cost of benefits. It says he will demand a switch to a "can do" attitude to encourage the long-term jobless back to work and declare that everyday "life worries" should not be accepted as a medical reason for being unable to work. |
| The Daily Telegraph says a record 2.8 million people of working age in Britain are economically inactive because of long-term sickness, up from around 2.1 million before the pandemic. It adds that, of those, 53% reported having depression, bad nerves, or anxiety. The paper says politicians have been wrestling with how to get people back to work amid concern that the trend is hampering economic growth. | The Daily Telegraph says a record 2.8 million people of working age in Britain are economically inactive because of long-term sickness, up from around 2.1 million before the pandemic. It adds that, of those, 53% reported having depression, bad nerves, or anxiety. The paper says politicians have been wrestling with how to get people back to work amid concern that the trend is hampering economic growth. |
| The power to issue sick notes could be taken away from GPs and handed to specialist teams linked to the benefits system, according to the Times. The paper reports that the prime minister is expected to say doctors are too readily writing people off as unfit for work and that he will not "sit back and accept" the rise in claims for mental health issue. It adds that sickness benefits for people of working age cost £49 billion last year, a figure that is projected to rise by £20 billion before the end of this decade. | The power to issue sick notes could be taken away from GPs and handed to specialist teams linked to the benefits system, according to the Times. The paper reports that the prime minister is expected to say doctors are too readily writing people off as unfit for work and that he will not "sit back and accept" the rise in claims for mental health issue. It adds that sickness benefits for people of working age cost £49 billion last year, a figure that is projected to rise by £20 billion before the end of this decade. |
| The i reports that under-30s could be set to benefit from an EU plan to relax visa rules that would allow them to work and study within the bloc for up to four years. The paper says the offer is "likely to be seen as a peace offering to a future Labour government", though adds the party says it does not currently have plans to boost youth mobility. | The i reports that under-30s could be set to benefit from an EU plan to relax visa rules that would allow them to work and study within the bloc for up to four years. The paper says the offer is "likely to be seen as a peace offering to a future Labour government", though adds the party says it does not currently have plans to boost youth mobility. |
| The government has told the UK's port authorities it will not implement new health and safety checks as planned when post-Brexit border controls begin this month because of fears of significant disruption, according to the Financial Times. The paper says the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs has admitted there are still "challenges" in its systems for registering food and animal products and that the checks will now be phased in. It adds that the introductions of the new controls has been postponed five times since 2021. | The government has told the UK's port authorities it will not implement new health and safety checks as planned when post-Brexit border controls begin this month because of fears of significant disruption, according to the Financial Times. The paper says the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs has admitted there are still "challenges" in its systems for registering food and animal products and that the checks will now be phased in. It adds that the introductions of the new controls has been postponed five times since 2021. |
| The Guardian says Whitehall officials are drawing up contingency plans that would see Thames Water, the country's largest water company, renationalised and turned into an arms-length public body. The paper says the company's finances have been left threadbare by dividend payments and fines for pollution, and that the plans would see most of the £15.6 billion it owes added to the public debt. | The Guardian says Whitehall officials are drawing up contingency plans that would see Thames Water, the country's largest water company, renationalised and turned into an arms-length public body. The paper says the company's finances have been left threadbare by dividend payments and fines for pollution, and that the plans would see most of the £15.6 billion it owes added to the public debt. |
| The aide who reported Tory MP Mark Menzies to his party's chief whip over his alleged misuse of campaign funds has spoken to the Daily Mirror. Katie Fieldhouse, 78, tells the paper: "I put my faith in the party to deal with him. I cannot accept his behaviour." Mr Menzies lost his party's whip after the allegations, which he told the Times he "strongly" disputes, were revealed by the Times this week. | The aide who reported Tory MP Mark Menzies to his party's chief whip over his alleged misuse of campaign funds has spoken to the Daily Mirror. Katie Fieldhouse, 78, tells the paper: "I put my faith in the party to deal with him. I cannot accept his behaviour." Mr Menzies lost his party's whip after the allegations, which he told the Times he "strongly" disputes, were revealed by the Times this week. |
| And the Daily Star reports that 1 in 10 young people say they've never had a full English breakfast, while 1 in 5 say they eat it just once a year over health fears. A mocked-up picture shows a headstone inscribed with the words: "Here lies the greatest brekkie in the world". | And the Daily Star reports that 1 in 10 young people say they've never had a full English breakfast, while 1 in 5 say they eat it just once a year over health fears. A mocked-up picture shows a headstone inscribed with the words: "Here lies the greatest brekkie in the world". |
| Rishi Sunak's pledge to end what he calls the UK's "sick note culture" is covered widely in Friday's papers. | |
| The Times says the prime minister believes the over-medicalisation of common anxieties is behind the rise in people being signed off work with mental health problems. The Guardian says Mr Sunak will use a speech on Friday to suggest that GPs are signing people off work "by default", while the Daily Telegraph reports they could be stripped of their right to do so. | |
| The Daily Mirror calls the plans "a sick joke". The paper says the NHS backlog is the cause of many absences from work, while the Sun says the plans are "music to its ears". The Daily Mail calls it a blitz on sick note Britain, while the Daily Express believes the proposals are a chance for Mr Sunak "to change lives for good". | |
| The Guardian says Thames Water could be re-nationalised with most of the £15.6 billion it owes added to the public debt. The paper says the government is working on contingency planning, which it says, is at an advanced stage. Under the plans, the paper says some lenders to Thames Water's core operating company could lose up to 40% of their money. | |
| The Financial Times claims that the government has told port authorities it will not "turn on" checks which are due to be carried out on EU imports of animal and plant products this month because of the risk of "significant disruption". The paper has seen a presentation from the Department of Food and Rural Affairs that says unmanageable levels of inspections could overwhelm ports. | |
| The i recounts the story of a 72-year-old man from Amsterdam who was found to have had Covid for almost two years before dying, the longest recorded infection of the disease. The man was immuno-compromised due to previous stem cell transplants. According to medical findings, he was admitted to hospital in early 2022 and the virus mutated 50 times during his infection. The paper says while healthy people can clear the virus in a matter of days, those who are immuno-compromised can develop persistent infections as the virus replicates and evolves. | |
| Thames Water could be re-nationalised and most of the £15.6 billion it owes added to the public debt, according to the Guardian | |
| Changing tastes are revealed in the Times, which reports that a quarter of people aged between 18 and 34 barely ever eat a full English breakfast. Reasons cited include concerns that the meal is too fatty and contains too many calories. | |
| And a man from Berkshire has been recounting an extraordinary interaction with Royal Mail to the Daily Telegraph. Richard Wilson, from Reading, was intrigued to receive delivery of a birthday card for his son, Alfie - but first had to pay £2.50 because it was posted with a stamp "no longer valid for purpose". When he opened the envelope he found it was a birthday card from his sister for the boy's first birthday. However, Alfie is now nine. Royal Mail said it "could not speculate" on why the letter wasn't delivered for almost a decade. Mr Wilson was refunded £10.80 and given a book of eight stamps. Alfie was given a £10 cheque to buy himself something as a gesture of goodwill. | |
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