What the papers say: Saturday's front pages

Sat, 24 Sep, 2022 - 08:39

By PA Reporter

On Saturday's front pages, the upcoming Budget 2023, electricity costs and pension plans dominate the news.

The Irish Times reports that a last-minute budget row has broken out over healthcare spending in advance of what is expected to be one of the largest non-Covid budgets.

The Irish Examiner reports that the Government will run a surplus of €4.415bn heading into the budget, giving scope for a one-off cost-of-living package of between €2 billion and €3 billion.

The Irish Independent reports that the energy regulator is carrying out a probe into smart meter tariffs after it emerged that some of the plans offered are more expensive than traditional ones.

On the front page of the Irish Daily Mail, there will be no extra pension if employers continue to work beyond the age of 65 if Sinn Féin are elected to Government, according to the party's alternative budget.

The Echo reports that the Port of Cork has launched its €89 million container terminal in Ringaskiddy, heralded as a "game changer" facility that puts Cork "in a different league" to any other Irish port.

The Irish Daily star reports that Brian Meehan who murdered journalist Veronica Guerin will stay put in prison after objections by her family to his release.

Meanwhile in the UK, Saturday’s papers react to the Chancellor’s £45bn tax-cutting package which sent the pound crashing to its lowest level against the dollar in 37 years.

The Independent and The Guardian call it a mini-budget “for the rich” and run comments made by TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady in which she said it was “Robin Hood in reverse”.

Saturday’s INDEPENDENT Digital: “ ‘Robin Hood in reverse’: Truss’s tax gift to the rich” #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/AnOJZXWhbw

— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) September 23, 2022

Guardian front page, Saturday 24 September 2022: A budget for the rich pic.twitter.com/zCjykHysiQ

— The Guardian (@guardian) September 23, 2022

The significant tax cuts are a great gamble, The Daily Telegraph and The Times add.

Saturday’s Daily TELEGRAPH: “Kwarteng gambles on biggest tax cuts in half a century” #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/zY7X28adJu

— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) September 23, 2022

Saturday’s TIMES: “Truss’s great tax gamble” #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/TktBLmdH2s

— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) September 23, 2022

FT Weekend and i Weekend lead with the tumbling of the pound to a 37-year low in response to the tax cut package.

Just published: front page of FT Weekend, UK edition, Saturday 24 September https://t.co/q0TJyhfrf8 pic.twitter.com/yOBzLSgOIZ

— Financial Times (@FinancialTimes) September 23, 2022

i Weekend: “Pound plunges after Kwarteng bets UK economy on tax cuts” #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/PYt5wdz2gX

— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) September 23, 2022

The Daily Express and the Daily Mail, meanwhile, cover the mini-budget in a different light, with the latter hailing it a “true Tory budget”.

Front page - We've got the 'courage to bet big' on Britain#TomorrowsPapersToday https://t.co/PbTpkQmhaO pic.twitter.com/jyHn25aIIi

— Daily Express (@Daily_Express) September 23, 2022

Saturday’s @DailyMailUK #MailFrontPages pic.twitter.com/gLgerZDOPP

— Daily Mail U.K. (@DailyMailUK) September 23, 2022

Elsewhere, the Daily Mirror and the Daily Star have the latest from the rape trial of Manchester City’s Benjamin Mendy, reporting that a woman who was allegedly raped by Mendy’s co-accused, Louis Saha Matturie, told police she had sex with England star Jack Grealish on the same night.

Saturday's front page: Grealish's 'sex with woman at Mendy's party on night she was raped'.https://t.co/Z9RfHaWPHH

#TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/9gmJi1CpbS

— The Mirror (@DailyMirror) September 23, 2022