The Papers: Mahmood's 'Duty of care' or 'climbdown' and 'The new cold war'

Published2 November 2026

"The new Cold War", is how the Metro describes the sabotage of supermarket freezers, external across Europe. The paper says "stunned" staff turned up for morning shifts to see floors flooded and tonnes of frozen food ruined. The Financial Times reports that freezers in shops across Sweden, external "were turned up as high as 55 Celsius". According to the Sun, the UK is now "on alert, external" with "fears of a similar attack" on Britain.

Under the headline "duty of care", the Daily Mirror leads on what it calls the home secretary's "rethink", external of immigration reforms. Hundreds of thousands of those in the care sector will now be able to claim indefinite leave to remain in the UK after five years, instead of the 15 originally proposed. The Times says Mahmood "bowed to pressure", external from cabinet colleagues and Labour MPs. The Daily Mail calls her statement a climbdown, external; the Guardian describes it as a softening of the original plans., external

The prospect of a formal apology from the UK for its role in the slave trade has led the Daily Express editorial, external to call for the prime minister to learn "when to put a sock in it". The paper says Andy Burnham's "unwise intervention" has made the King's job at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting "more difficult". The Daily Mirror's Darren Lewis writes that Burnham, external is "right to be open" on the issue, but the Daily Mail's leader says its "yet another example" of the PM's "pathological inability to say no".

According to the Sun, the prime minister also "flew into a major storm" over his travel arrangements to Antigua for the Commonwealth meeting. A government aircraft took off from Stansted with officials on board before being diverted to Manchester to pick up Andy Burnham and his wife. The Conservatives say the jet was "the world's most expensive Uber". Downing Street says the diversion was value for money.

"America's crossroads" is how the i Paper tees up the US midterm elections. The Guardian calls them a "referendum" on Donald Trump's second presidency and "a chance for opponents to rein in his untrammelled power". The Daily Mirror offers its readers a prediction - that the president's Republican party are "all set for a trumping".

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