Electric car ‘chaos’ and Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire
A number of Wednesday’s newspapers lead with the government’s net-zero electric car plan. The Daily Mail says that Labour’s net-zero plans were in chaos on Tuesday night after electric car sales targets were blamed for the decision to close a Vauxhall factory in Luton next year. Downing Street said an urgent review of the policy would be launched in the coming weeks after “repeated warnings that it was putting jobs and investment at risk”, the paper adds.
The Daily Telegraph also says the government is poised to “water down” electric vehicle rules amid a “mounting crisis” in the industry over the pace of the transition away from petrol and diesel cars. Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, on Tuesday confirmed a review of the government’s zero emission vehicle mandate after warnings from carmakers that the rules were putting the industry’s future at risk, the paper adds. An image of the Prince of Wales training with the Welsh Guards also makes the front page in the Telegraph and several other papers.
The news from Luton dominates the front page of the Times: more than 1,000 jobs at one of the country’s largest vehicle plants have been put at risk after Vauxhall became the latest company to scale back its UK production. Ministers have been “forced into talks” with manufacturers amid “fears” that electric vehicle targets will hit carmakers with ruinous fines, the paper adds. It also reports that US President Joe Biden welcomed the “good news” of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon to end the war with Hezbollah.
The “historic” deal to end Lebanon’s 14-month-old war makes the front page of the Guardian. It shows an image of smoke above Beirut’s southern suburbs on Tuesday after Israeli air strikes, which it calls “some of the heaviest to date on the city”.
A major weight-loss injection trial in Manchester with a US pharmaceutical firm will examine the impact of obesity on employment over a five-year period, according to the i paper. The paper also reports on the ceasefire in Lebanon, saying it was brokered by the US and France.
The Daily Mirror says that free breakfast clubs will be available at all primary schools as part of Labour’s bid to stop kids “struggling to learn on empty stomachs”. The paper adds that heads can apply to be one of 750 that will take part in a pilot from April, to be rolled out across England in 2026.
Mexico, Canada and China struck “defiant” tones yesterday as markets reacted to US President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to “slap punitive tariffs” on his biggest trading partners, according to the Financial Times. The paper quotes Erica York of the Tax Foundation, a Washington-based think-tank, who said: “Stiff new tariffs on imports from the US’s three largest trading partners would significantly increase costs and disrupt business across all economies involved.” The paper also reports that London’s historic Smithfield meat market, trading since the 12th Century, is “for the chop”.
The Metro reports that dance class teacher Leanne Lucas has spoken for the first time of the “horrific knife attack that left three little girls dead” in Southport in July. The 28-year-old, injured protecting children at the Taylor Swift-themed event, spoke at a vigil for women and girls who have lost their lives to male violence, the paper adds.
The Daily Express writes that families face a £50 Christmas dinner bill after Labour’s Budget “mess” sent festive food costs “soaring”. The paper’s image of Prince William in uniform comes with the caption “His Royal Hotness!”
The Sun reports that referee David Coote was “at the centre of an FA betting probe” on Tuesday after, the paper says, it emerged he had “discussed giving a yellow card before a match”. The FA said it was investigating the “very serious allegations as a matter of urgency”. Coote denies any wrongdoing, the paper adds.
And the Daily Star says that wrestling fan Donald Trump has asked “grappler Hulk Hogan” to join his “mad-as-a-box-of-frogs” government.
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