The Papers: 'PM lets down the King' and 'Kenny's secret night at Maya's'

Published1 November 2026, 01:15 GMT

Warning: Sunday's paper review contains spoilers for The Celebrity Traitors.

The Sunday Times leads with Rachel Reeves' comments, external on the UK rejoining the EU - noting that, in her article, the former chancellor does not offer any thoughts on a timeline, or whether a fresh referendum would be needed. The chief minister of Gibraltar is much more forthcoming: Fabian Picardo tells the Sunday Mirror, external he is looking forward to seeing the issue go before the British people once again, in a "very clear manifesto commitment", or a fresh public vote.

In the Sunday Telegraph, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, external accuses the government of making unfunded spending promises that will need to be paid for through tax rises. She says proposals including setting up a National Care Service have left a "colossal" black hole in the public finances after the budget. The Treasury tells the paper the budget met fiscal rules and set borrowing on a downward path.

"An ill-timed intervention that's triggered a fresh call for billions" is how the Mail on Sunday sees Andy Burnham's suggestion, external that the UK could apologise for its role in the transatlantic slave trade. An editorial in The Sunday Express accuses the prime minister, external of having made life harder for King Charles III during his Caribbean tour and suggests he stop "shooting from the hip" to avoid sowing international chaos. The last thing this country needs, says the Sun on Sunday, external, is what the paper calls a new chorus of financial demands from governments, lawyers and bleeding-heart campaigners.

The Sunday Times reports on claims that an AI programme, external ignored the evidence given to a landmark maternity review by women who say they were harmed by a drive for births with no medical intervention. The Amos review concluded in June that what is known as "normal birth ideology" was not widespread in maternity care in England. But the paper says there were many devastating accounts among the more than 10,000 responses which, the Times has learned, were fed into Microsoft Copilot, with NHS staff asking it to "identity themes and produce summaries". Former Health Secretary Sir Jeremy Hunt tells the paper the allegations are deeply troubling. Baroness Amos did not respond to a request for comment.

The lead story for the Sunday Mirror is an investigation into cosmetics firms, external up-selling surgery abroad. A surgeon is said to have tried to "flog a Brazilian buttlift" to an undercover reporter. The Mirror's editorial advises that world-class surgery comes with a world-class price and any offer of cheaper rates should be handled with care.

There is no let-up in the pressure on the Manchester United manager Michael Carrick on the back pages after his team's loss to Chelsea. The Telegraph says it was a "Halloween Horror", external that puts the club on its worst run of results since 1988. For the Star, Carrick's spell at the club, external is now surely "deader than disco".

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