After the government took control of British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant over the weekend, many of Monday’s front pages consider what might happen next. “Blast chance saloon” is how the Metro describes the government’s “race against time” to obtain sufficient raw materials to keep the blast furnaces running, after ministers accused the plant’s owners of selling existing materials and not buying more.
Meanwhile, the Times reports ministers feared the plant’s Chinese owner, Jingye, planned to “sabotage” the site “to increase British reliance on cheap Chinese imports”. The paper also carries an image – seen on several front pages this morning – of the all-female set to fly into space later today. Among those set to blast off are Katy Perry, singer of the aptly named track E.T., and Lauren Sánchez, journalist and fiancée of Blue Origin space firm owner Jeff Bezos.
The i Paper reports that Chinese firms “may be blocked” from critical UK sites following the weekend’s steel drama. It says Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds – who previously said Jingye did not negotiate “in good faith” over the plant’s future – acknowledges there is now a “high trust bar” for allowing such firms to invest in critical British industries.
“Rivals join race against time” to keep the blast furnaces at Scunthorpe running, reads the Guardian’s headline, as it reports British Steel managers are considering offers of raw materials from dozens of businesses. In other news, jubilant Cambridge rowers are pictured after securing a double victory over Oxford in Sunday’s boat race.
However, “the smiling assassin” is the headline splashed across the Sun this morning. It reports Hashem Abedi was “grinning” as he attacked three prison officers on Saturday, with unnamed sources calling their survival a “miracle”. Counter-terrorism police continue to investigate the attack by Abedi, who is one of the men responsible for the Manchester Arena bombing.
The Daily Mirror also leads on the attack – and asks why Abedi had access to the “boiling oil” he threw over the officers. Prison staff are calling for “rapid action” to protect them after the attack, the paper reports. Both the Mirror and the Sun cover Mickey Rourke’s departure from Celebrity Big Brother over what ITV called his “unacceptable behaviour”.
“Time to stop ‘appeasing’ extremists in our jails” – this is Conservative justice spokesman Robert Jenrick’s warning following the incident, according to the Daily Mail. “MPs say enough is enough,” the paper adds.
Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph leads on the government’s “desperate move” to call in military planners to help deal with mounting rubbish in Birmingham amid a month-long bin strike. The decision “risks inflaming tensions between Labour and unions,” the paper reports. Its front page also covers a new report by MPs which says the Southport riots were fuelled by “police silence”.
The Financial Times takes an international view of things this morning. It reports on a Russian attack which killed more than 34 people in the Ukrainian city of Sumy – and highlights it came less than a day after US envoy Steve Witkoff met Russia’s President Putin. It also turns to US President Trump’s tariffs once again – and reports that the exemption for Big Tech products like smartphones “will only be brief,” according to the US commerce secretary.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch gives her view on tariffs on the front page of the Daily Express. “It’s time to buy British” to protect UK businesses from the US president’s economic policy – as well as “Labour’s punishing jobs tax” – according to the paper. Its front page also features an image of a house explosion in Nottinghamshire, which killed one man and wrecked several properties.
In a change of pace, “Easter brollydays” is the headline on Monday’s Daily Star as it warns a storm is set to hit this week. This is “not egg-cellent news,” the paper laments.
