Trump 'won't deport Harry' and tributes to Southport 'angels'

Several of Sunday’s front pages focus on the Southport stabbings, just days after a government review found that counter-terrorism scheme Prevent “prematurely” closed its case on killer Axel Rudakubana three years before he went on to murder three children in Southport. The Sun speaks to “Southport Hero” Joel Verite who confronted the attacker, and his interview generates the heartrending headline “Horror will live with me forever”.

The front page of the Sun newspaper — Several of Sunday’s front pages focus on the Southport stabbings, just days after a government review found that counter-terrorism scheme Prevent “prematurely” closed its case on killer Axel Rudakubana three years before he went on to murder three children in Southport. The Sun speaks to “Southport Hero” Joel Verite who confronted the attacker, and his interview generates the heartrending headline “Horror will live with me forever”.

The Sunday Times also leads with an interview on the Southport stabbings, but with the parents of two of the children killed that day, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Bebe King. The paper says the parents gave a three-hour interview so that “people remember their girls for their personalities”. Bebe’s father describes her as “so confident and full of life”, and Elsie’s mother says her daughter was “truly” one of a kind.

The front page of the Sunday Times newspaper — The Sunday Times also leads with an interview on the Southport stabbings, but with the parents of two of the children killed that day, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Bebe King. The paper says the parents gave a three-hour interview so that “people remember their girls for their personalities”. Bebe’s father describes her as “so confident and full of life”, and Elsie’s mother says her daughter was “truly” one of a kind.

Because giving the interview with one newspaper is such a big step for the families, traditional media rivalry is put aside as other papers report on the Sunday Times interview. The Sunday Mirror gives most of its front page over to pictures of Elsie Dot and Bebe with the headline “They are our angels”.

The front page of the Sunday Mirror newspaper — Because giving the interview with one newspaper is such a big step for the families, traditional media rivalry is put aside as other papers report on the Sunday Times interview. The Sunday Mirror gives most of its front page over to pictures of Elsie Dot and Bebe with the headline “They are our angels”.

The Sunday People takes a similar approach but limits its main headline to a single word – “Angels”.

The front page of the Sunday People newspaper — The Sunday People takes a similar approach but limits its main headline to a single word – “Angels”.

The Sunday Express also highlights the same interview, picking up the quote from Bebe’s mother that she is “still looking for light in the dark”. More prominently on its front page, however, is a call from top Conservatives to leader Kemi Badenoch. Prominent members are urging her to “save” the UK, the paper writes, by making an “election pact” with Nigel Farage’s Reform party.

The front page of the Sunday Express newspaper — The Sunday Express also highlights the same interview, picking up the quote from Bebe’s mother that she is “still looking for light in the dark”. More prominently on its front page, however, is a call from top Conservatives to leader Kemi Badenoch. Prominent members are urging her to “save” the UK, the paper writes, by making an “election pact” with Nigel Farage’s Reform party.

Meanwhile, the Sunday Telegraph reports on health minister Andrew Gwynne who, the paper writes, was “sacked for saying a pensioner should die”. Gwynne released a statement on Saturday apologising for “any offence caused” and said he understood the PM’s decision. Further down, the paper jumps to the other side of the pond as it writes that US President Donald Trump has “ruled out” deporting Prince Harry – while calling his wife, Meghan, “terrible”.

The front page of the Sunday Telegraph newspaper — Meanwhile, the Sunday Telegraph reports on health minister Andrew Gwynne who, the paper writes, was “sacked for saying a pensioner should die”. Gwynne released a statement on Saturday apologising for “any offence caused” and said he understood the PM’s decision. Further down, the paper jumps to the other side of the pond as it writes that US President Donald Trump has “ruled out” deporting Prince Harry – while calling his wife, Meghan, “terrible”.

Both stories have also taken the top slots on the front page of the Mail on Sunday, which describes the prime minister as “besieged” while “dramatically” axing Gwynne. Covering Trump’s comments on the Royal couple, the paper shares an image of the duke and duchess and places the president’s comments on Meghan front and centre.

The front page of the Mail on Sunday newspaper — Both stories have also taken the top slots on the front page of the Mail on Sunday, which describes the prime minister as “besieged” while “dramatically” axing Gwynne. Covering Trump’s comments on the Royal couple, the paper shares an image of the duke and duchess and places the president’s comments on Meghan front and centre.

Taking a different focus than the other papers, the Observer leads with Labour’s plan to “fix [the] benefit system to get people back into work”. Benefit rules are set to be “redrawn”, the paper understands, in a “radical overhaul to cut cost of welfare”. Separately, it also features an image of a small Palestinian girl dressed in red and barely coming up to the waists of gun-carrying Hamas fighters she was standing between during Saturday’s handover of three Israeli hostages.

The front page of the Observer newspaper — Taking a different focus than the other papers, the Observer leads with Labour’s plan to “fix [the] benefit system to get people back into work”. Benefit rules are set to be “redrawn”, the paper understands, in a “radical overhaul to cut cost of welfare”. Separately, it also features an image of a small Palestinian girl dressed in red and barely coming up to the waists of gun-carrying Hamas fighters she was standing between during Saturday’s handover of three Israeli hostages.

Coldest February for six years? That could be the case, the Daily Star writes on its front page, as it says the cold weather could stick around until March. “Brrrrrilliant” – it writes.

The front page of the Daily Star newspaper — Coldest February for six years? That could be the case, the Daily Star writes on its front page, as it says the cold weather could stick around until March. “Brrrrrilliant” – it writes.

The Mail on Sunday leads on its exclusive about Andrew Gwynne. “Minister sacked for ‘hope you die’ jibe about pensioners” is the headline. The paper describes the WhatsApp messages he sent as “vile”, “sexist” and “racist” – and says they were shared in a group called “Trigger Me Timbers”. “Now the mask slips to expose sneering bigots at the heart of Labour” declares the Mail’s editorial. It says the prime minister “was right to get rid of Mr Gwynne” and that his “constituents might be wise to look elsewhere for an MP.”

The Sunday Times reports that Sir Keir Starmer asked the cabinet secretary to urge the BBC not to run a story revealing that his top adviser, Sue Gray, earned more than him. The article says Simon Case contacted the corporation’s director-general, Tim Davie. It says Mr Case did not “explicitly say the story should not go ahead” but made clear No 10 had “grave reservations”. The paper says there’s no evidence the BBC’s coverage was affected by the government’s lobbying and that Mr Davie made clear he would not intervene. The details were revealed in a book about Sir Keir’s rise to power called Get In.

“Tories call for Reform pact to save UK” is the headline on the front of the Sunday Express. It says leading Conservatives have called for Kemi Badenoch to make an election pact with Nigel Farage. A former Tory minister is quoted as saying “you can’t have two parties competing on the right because inevitably that will help Labour to win”. A spokesperson for the Conservatives says “reports of a Tory-Reform pact are nonsense”. The Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe is also unenthusiastic. He points to the deal Nigel Farage made with Boris Johnson before the 2019 general election. Lowe says standing down candidates gave the Conservatives an eighty seat majority and that “they didn’t even do Brexit well”.

The Sunday Telegraph says Donald Trump has “ruled out” deporting Prince Harry from the US. President Trump is reported as saying he has no interest in “throwing out” the Duke of Sussex, over claims of “past drug taking” made in his memoir. The right-wing American think tank, the Heritage Foundation, has been urging the US authorities to release the Duke’s immigration records, to show whether drug use was disclosed. According to the paper, Trump said Prince Harry had “enough problems with his wife” whom he describes as “terrible”.

The Times has the first interviews with the parents of Bebe King and Elsie Dot Stancombe, two of the children killed in the Southport stabbings. The paper says they want their daughters to be remembered “for the characters they were, rather than the tragedy, or the nationwide riots that followed”. The Sun on Sunday has spoken to the man who confronted the attacker, Axel Rudakubana. Joel Verite, who was among the first on the scene, says the horror of that day will live with him forever.

The lead story for the Observer says Labour is planning a “root and branch overhaul” of the benefits system so that claimants don’t face an “all-or-nothing choice”. The paper says it understands that rules that leave people choosing between “working and being deemed too sick to work are set to be redrawn”. The article says the proposals will be unveiled in the spring.

The Sunday Mirror is among the papers that report on the government’s plan to digitise more of the home buying process in England and Wales. The article says the new system will slash the time a sale takes and reduce the number of deals that collapse. A housing minister, Matthew Pennycook, tells the paper that the change will allow Britain to “follow in the footsteps of Norway”, where transactions take a month on average, compared with nearly five months here. The Mirror’s editorial welcomes the move. It says buying and selling “will always be headache, but this will take some pain out of it.”