Starmer’s spat with Musk and Queen Keely’s Paris gold
Coverage of the rioting and violent scenes in towns and cities across the UK features on most of Tuesday’s front pages. The Guardian splashes on remarks from former head of Counter Terrorism Policing Neil Basu who believes the attack on the Holiday Inn Express hotel in Rotherham over the weekend should be treated as an act of terrorism as he condemns the rioters as “bullies and cowards”.
In the corner of Tuesday’s Metro, the paper promotes tributes to former England and Surrey “cricket legend” Graham Thorpe who died at the age of 55. The lead story continues to focus on the disorder across parts of the UK as the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, says there is a “standing army” of specialist police officers. “Supercops get the call-up” is the splash headline.
Policing also features on the front of Daily Express – but this time it’s the chief of the Metropolitan Police who was caught grabbing a reporter’s microphone after being asked a question about two-tier policing. Sir Mark Rowley knocked the mic to one side after leaving an emergency Cobra meeting in Whitehall in what the tabloid describes as him “dodging” the question on riots.
Back to the scenes of violence in parts of the UK – the Daily Mirror dedicates its front page to people who the paper says are “too scared to leave” their homes including Dilu Barun who hid in her Middlesborough house with husband Amar and their granddaughter after their street was trashed. “I want to move now,” she tells the tabloid.
The Financial Times leads with a story on US stocks finishing sharply lower to close out global market rout. The paper says Tokyo’s Topix fell 12.2%, the sharpest sell-off since “Black Monday” in October 1987.
Beaming on the front of the Daily Mail is Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson holding a crown above her head moments after she dominated the 800 metres final in Paris to take her first global title. The lead story focuses on comments from Downing Street which slapped down Elon Musk’s claim “civil war is inevitable” amid the UK’s outbreak of rioting in the wake of the Southport stabbing attack.
“Queen of the track” – is the headline at the top of Tuesday’s i newspaper as it reflects on another gold for Team GB at the Paris Olympics. The paper leads with the UK disorder explaining that the UK government faces what it describes as a “whack-a-mole” battle to stop the spread of far-right hate online – including Telegram channels linked to violent scenes.
The prime minister’s clash with Elon Musk also features as the lead story on Tuesday’s Daily Telegraph. The paper quotes Sir Keir Starmer as saying there is no justification for the billionaire’s claim that the UK is heading for “civil war”. Elsewhere, England cricket star Michael Vaughan pays tribute to his friend Graham Thorpe and describes him as the team’s “rock”. Matt the cartoonist is away, the paper notes in the corner.
The Times also leads with Downing Street’s criticism of X owner Elon Musk for claiming “civil war is inevitable” in the UK. The paper says officials suggest online misinformation fuelling disorder on the UK’s streets may be being amplified by foreign state actors. The paper also features a sidebar report on the major drop in stock markets worldwide furthering fears of a recession.
Finally, the Daily Star’s headline exclaims “Tango Wars” – with an image of Sir Rod Steward sat behind former US President Donald Trump. It comes after the singer made jokes about an “orange” Trump during a Las Vegas performance – comments which appear to have “upset” the Republican nominee, the paper says.