What the papers say – January 18

‘Match of the wahey’ and the latest industrial action are splashed across the front pages.

What the papers say – January 18 (PA) (PA Archive)

The mastheads focus on strikes, UFO sightings and the workplace dangers of cake.

The Guardian describes a “clamour” for an inquiry into the officers who allowed a sexual predator colleague to stay in the Metropolitan Police.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay writes in The Independent that patients will suffer if ministers meet the pay demands of nurses, who are on strike today.

The Daily Mirror says agency nurses are today being offered £40 an hour by “idiotic” bosses to cross the picket line.

Rail, teachers and civil servant unions are all set to strike on February 1, reports Metro.

Meanwhile, i quotes Business Secretary Grant Shapps as telling the Commons he is “very concerned” about energy companies being granted the right to forcibly install devices that leave families without power.

The Daily Telegraph says Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch will write to all Tory MPs and insist a ban on trans conversion therapy must not criminalise parents, in what the paper calls a “highly unusual move”.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged to finish “cutting 4,000 pieces of red tape from Brussels” to speed up the UK’s economic recovery, a source tells Daily Express.

Britain’s top food watchdog claims bringing cake into the office should be seen as harmful to colleagues in the same way as passive smoking, according to The Times.

The Financial Times reports adjustment to the war in Ukraine, China dropping Covid controls and the launch of a US green investment boom have prompted business and government leaders to express economic optimism about the future.

The Sun covers “match of the wahey” where Gary Lineker was pranked during FA Cup coverage by the sound of a porn movie being played in the background as he presented.

And the Daily Star says a “totally sane” Republican congressman has accused US President Joe Biden of covering up UFO sightings.