The Papers: 'Healey torpedoes Starmer' and 'Game on!'

“Healey torpedoes Starmer,” declares the Daily Telegraph, as almost all of the front pages lead on the resignation of Defence Secretary John Healey. The Telegraph says Healey announced his departure in a “stinging” letter to the prime minister. The Sun says it was a “blistering attack” with Healey claiming planned spending was nowhere near enough to defend the country. “Thanks but no Tanks,” is the paper’s headline.

That planned figure, according to the Daily Mail, would reportedly see defence spending go up by just 0.08% of GDP by the end of the decade. The paper claims Chancellor Rachel Reeves has opted for “benefits, not bullets” despite “rising threats across the world”.

Metro says John Healey’s resignation has “plunged” the “embattled” prime minister “into yet another crisis”. The Guardian claims the “shock” departure has left Sir Keir Starmer “on the brink”. The paper says the affair has “undermined his security credentials” and risks shredding his remaining political authority.

Pictures of the pop star, Shakira, performing during the opening ceremony of the World Cup in Mexico appear on most of the front pages. “Greatest show in the world is finally here,” is the Daily Express headline. The Times notes that “these days” you cannot say the World Cup is under way without a “proper” opening ceremony – namely “an army of ambulant feather dusters rotating around a 20-foot Fifa World Cup trophy”.

And as the fans celebrate the start of the World Cup, the Times highlights what it calls an “NHS own goal”. A hospital reportedly offered to send a tablet costing as little as 50p in a taxi to the former deputy chief medical officer for England, Prof Jonathan van Tam. The taxi bill was calculated at £70 – a situation the paper says was “hard to swallow”.

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