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Newspaper headlines: ‘Labour U-turn on freebies’ and ‘Fayed was a monster’

The Times headline reads: Labour U-turn on freebies

Leading several of the papers on Saturday is the latest in the Labour donations saga. The Times reports the prime minister has “bowed to pressure from senior colleagues” and neither he nor his “top team” will accept donations for clothes going forward. It says Starmer’s allies “admitted… there was a perception issue” after accepting donations from a Labour donor.

The Daily Telegraph headline reads: I took free clothes too, admits Chancellor

The Daily Telegraph also leads on the donations, reporting Chancellor Rachel Reeves says she too accepted money for clothes from the widow of a Labour donor. The paper says the “backlash over gifts from donors threatens to overshadow the Labour Party conference this weekend”.

The Sun headline reads: Fayed was like Savile, Epstein and Weinstein

The Sun’s top story covers the rape allegations against late Harrods boss Mohamed Al Fayed. Reflecting comments from his accusers’ lawyers, it writes that Fayed “combined the worst of Jimmy Savile, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein”.

The Mirror headline reads: Al Fayed was a monster

The Fayed story is also the lead story in the Daily Mirror, which similarly reports the lawyers’ comments and that Fayed was “branded a monster”.

The Daily Mail headline reads: Starmer hit by calamity poll

A paparazzi photo of the prime minister’s chief of staff speaking to a senior staffer leads the Daily Mail, with the paper branding the conversation as “heated”. The image accompanies a report into the donations saga, as well as a report that Starmer’s popularity is in “freefall” after the row.

The i headline reads: EU reveals the price of Starmer's softer Brexit: new migration deal for under 30s in Europe and UK

Politics also dominates the i’s Saturday edition, covering post-Brexit negotiations between the UK and EU. It says the “EU will demand easier access to the UK” for young people “in return for easing trade restrictions and creating a security pact”.

The Financial Times headline reads: Debt overshoot deepens fiscal gloom

Leading the Financial Times is a report into public debt. It reports that “fiscal gloom intensified” after public debt “hit 100% of GDP for the first time since the 1960s”. It says this fuels expectations of “painful tax rises and spending cuts” in next month’s Budget.

The Daily Express headline reads: Heartless! 86% of poorest pensioners will lose fuel help

The rollback of winter fuel payments leads the Daily Express. It says campaigners have warned that some older people will be “begging in the cold” as a result of the payments being axed for millions.

The Daily Star headline reads: I died and went to heaven... it smells of fried chicken

The Daily Star details the story of a brain surgeon who tells the paper he experienced heaven while in a coma and that it “smells a bit like a KFC restaurant”. Keir Starmer, who the paper features in relation to Friday’s revelation that he would no longer accept donations for clothing, has been photoshopped poking his head out of the Colonel’s bucket.

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