Morning all.  Viv’s busy today so I’m in the chair.  Here are all the front pages.

Migrants

Express
Asylum seekers are taking longer routes to the UK to avoid the heavily policed areas
More than 3,300 migrants have crossed the Channel so far this month, heaping fresh pressure on Rishi Sunak over his promise to stop the boats.
The desperate asylum seekers are taking longer routes to the UK to avoid the heavily policed areas near Calais and Dunkirk.
A boat carrying 24 migrants was rescued off the coast of Quend on Thursday morning, 54 miles south of Calais.
It comes as people smugglers exploited the improving weather conditions to launch unsafe dinghies into the Channel bound for Britain.
So far in June, 3,308 migrants have arrived on 68 boats, bringing the total this year to 10,962.
This is down just seven percent from last year’s 11,806, prompting fresh fears Prime Minister Rishi Sunak may have claimed success too early.
He said the Government’s policies on illegal migration had led to a 20 percent reduction in crossings. But the gap between this year and last year’s total has been narrowing rapidly over the past week.
Worryingly for ministers, the number of crossings this June has already exceeded the total from last year.

Telegraph
Home Office plans to house migrants on a cruise ship in Edinburgh look set to be blocked after opposition from the local council and the Scottish Government.
The UK Government had hoped to accommodate asylum seekers on board the MS Victoria in Leith docks after the contract for using the ship to house Ukrainian refugees ends on July 11.
The moves represent the latest blow to the Home Office’s efforts to move migrants out of hotels, where about 46,000 are being housed at a cost of £6 million a day. It follows thwarted plans to use cruise ships on the Mersey in Wirral and in City docks in London, both of which were opposed by the local councils.
The Home Office is also working on plans to house hundreds of migrants in marquees on large sites across the country. It already proposes to house more than 3,000 migrants on RAF bases Scampton in Lincolnshire and Wethersfield in Essex.
On Friday the Government confirmed that more than 3,303 migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats this month overtaking the 3,139 for the whole of June last year.
A total of 312 migrants in eight boats were intercepted on Thursday as people smugglers took advantage of the calm sea and clear skies.
It means that 10,962 migrants have reached the UK in 246 boats so far this year, compared with 11,806 at the same point last year.

Mail
The Home Office is planning to house hundreds of migrants in marquees across the country.
The government’s plans come as today it was revealed that the number of Channel crossings by people in small boats so far this month is now higher than the number for June last year.
According to official figures, 312 asylum seekers were intercepted in eight boats by UK officials yesterday.
This brings the official number of migrant crossings this month to 3,303 in 68 boats – an average of 49 people crammed into each inflatable dinghy or other small craft.
More people thought to be migrants arrived in Dover earlier today as people smugglers took advantage of the weather of low winds and no rainfall.
Border Force vessel Ranger was spotted this afternoon patrolling the 21-mile Dover Straits after dropping a group of migrants at the port.
Of the housing plans, a government source said that preparations are still very much in the early stages, according to Sky News.
Currently, many migrants are being housed in hotels across the Uk, costing the taxpayer £6million a day.

BBC News
A Romanian man has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of 39 Vietnamese migrants who were found suffocated in a sealed lorry trailer.
The victims, including 10 teenagers, were discovered in Essex in 2019.
Marius Mihai Draghici also admitted one count of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration at a hearing at the Old Bailey.
The 50-year-old was remanded in custody and Judge Richard Marks KC said he would be sentenced at a later date.
Draghici was detained in Romania last August following the execution of a European Arrest Warrant and was extradited to the UK.
The bodies of the 39 people were found in Grays on 23 October 2019, after the lorry had travelled by boat from Zeebrugge in Belgium to Purfleet on the Thames estuary.
An inquest heard their medical cause of death was asphyxia and hyperthermia, as temperatures rose in the back of the sealed lorry container and oxygen levels dropped.
Each of the lorry victims, and their families, had paid significant sums of money to an organised criminal group that promised a better life and safe passage to the UK.

‘Independence Day’

Express
Celebrating the seventh anniversary of the EU Referendum, the former Prime Minister put out a personal message on Twitter saying Brexit will “pay off hugely”.
Boris Johnson put out a personal message on Twitter celebrating UK “Independence Day”, heralding the “bold new destination” the UK has chosen for itself.
He hit out at the “prophets of doom”, saying Brexit will “pay off hugely”.
Celebrating the seventh anniversary of the EU Referendum, the former Prime Minister said: “Happy Independence Day folks!
“Remember Brexit has already helped deliver all kinds of benefits – from new free trade deals to the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe.
“We are doing things differently – from genomic editing to regulation of financial services.
“We have been able to take a stronger line in foreign policy – from AUKUS to Ukraine.
“We chose a bold new destination for our country and it has paid off and will pay off hugely as time goes on. Don’t listen to the prophets of doom.”
Mr Johnson added: “They said Brexit would lead to mass unemployment.
“They said millions would be thrown out of work. They were ludicrously wrong then and they are wrong now.
“Don’t let them get you down – believe in this country and what it can do.”

Express
Khan snubbed as City Hall ‘banned’ from flying EU flag on Brexit referendum anniversary
Officials at City Hall were advised that doing so without advertising consent from Newham council could result in them being prosecuted.
Sadiq Khan had planned to fly the EU flag on the anniversary of the Brexit referendum but was blocked from doing so.
Officials at City Hall were advised that doing so without advertising consent from Newham council could result in them being prosecuted.
They would have been liable to criminal prosecution under the amended town and country planning (control of advertisements) regulations.
No such consent is required for flying the flag of any country in England, but some flags require consent.
Until 2021 the EU flag had also been among those flags that did not require permission, but the law applying to England was changed after the UK left the EU.
A City Hall source said: “The mayor is proud to fly flags from City Hall – from the Union flag to the Ukraine flag in recent times.
“Flying a flag is a way of showing solidarity, expressing our values, and showing pride in the identities we share.

Strikes

ITV News
Junior doctors in England will strike for the longest single period in NHS history, according to the British Medical Association.
The walkout will last for five days from 6:59am on July 13 and will be the fourth round of action this year.
Striking junior doctors will return to work from 7am on July, 18.
Co-chairs of the BMA junior doctors committee, Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, said: “The NHS is one of this country’s proudest achievements and it is shameful that we have a government seemingly content to let it decline to the point of collapse, with decades of real-terms pay cuts to doctors driving them away.
“It has been almost a week since the last round of strikes finished but not once have we heard from Rishi Sunak or Steve Barclay in terms of reopening negotiations since their collapse of our talks and cancelling all scheduled meetings a month ago.
“We are announcing the longest single walkout by doctors in the NHS’s history – but this is not a record that needs to go into the history books.
“Even now the government can avert our action by coming to the table with a credible offer on pay restoration.”

Metro
A long-running dispute involving security officers at Heathrow Airport has ended after workers voted to accept an improved pay offer.
More than 2,000 security officers at Terminals 3 and 5, as well as Campus Security staff responsible for checking airside workers and vehicles, were due to walkout for 31 days this summer.
But their employer Heathrow Airport Limited went back to the negotiating table following the announcement and Unite members voted to accept a new and improved pay offer.
The union said workers will receive an increase of between 15.5% and 17.5%.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘This was a hard won victory which demonstrates what can be achieved when workers stand together and take action together.
‘The pay deal at Heathrow is a further demonstration of how Unite’s complete focus on jobs, pay and conditions is having direct benefits for its members.’

Education

Observer
Schools in England are struggling to recruit English teachers, with hundreds still trying to fill vacancies in time for September, as headteachers warn they have reached crisis point.
Secondary heads say they have become used to adverts for maths, science, computer science and design technology teachers failing to attract any suitable applicants. But many have been shocked to find that it is now a similar battle to find teachers for English – traditionally a subject that buoyed recruitment numbers.
They warn that if the government does not tackle low pay, overwork and the pressure of inspections by Ofsted, growing teacher shortages will mean spiralling class sizes and children falling behind because they do not have the right specialist subject knowledge.
The national executive of the National Education Union agreed this weekend to stage two further days of strike action over conditions and pay. These will take place on 5 and 7 July. The action will affect state schools and sixth form colleges. Members are calling for an above-inflation pay rise and assurances that money will not come from existing school budgets.

Lockdown

Telegraph
Every day new evidence emerges of the harms of lockdown on children. Researchers find rising numbers of those with eating disorders and social anxiety, or who are self-harming and dropping out of school. And that’s far from an exhaustive list.
The fact our young suffered the effects of lockdown in many more ways than we could ever have predicted has left parents, schools and the healthcare system reeling in the virus’s wake. But today, little is being done.
Over the pandemic’s course, the number of youngsters seeking help for mental health problems soared, jumping from an estimated 12.1 per cent of children in 2017 to 17.8 per cent in 2022. The youngest children – those aged between seven and 10 – saw the biggest increase. But adolescent mental health issues have also become more prevalent, with new research this week showing that lockdowns fuelled a staggering 42 per cent rise in eating disorders among teenagers – the sharpest rise being in girls aged between 13 and 16 – and led to a similar increase in incidents of self-harm.
The lead author of the latest study suggests that social isolation, anxiety, disruption in education and over exposure to negative social media influences left many children feeling they had lost control over their lives, and that this could have contributed to the development of eating disorders. Hospital admissions because of eating disorders had their sharpest annual increase in the year after the pandemic, rising from 5,950 among under-18s to 7,767.
School closures had a devastating impact on education. Pupils starting in reception in 2019 spent, on average, 85 days out of class. Some, especially those placed in “bubbles” where entire year groups were sent home if just one pupil tested positive, missed far more. As a result, the proportion of pupils meeting literacy and numeracy benchmarks at the end of primary school fell from 65 per cent in 2018-19 to 59 per cent in 2021-22.

Mortgages

Sun
CHANCELLOR Jeremy Hunt and banking chiefs today agreed a package of measures, including mortgage payment holidays, to help households struggling with brutal interest rate hikes.
From today all homeowners will be able to temporarily change their mortgage to interest only and extend the terms of the their loan.
No questions will be asked of those wanting to switch and there will be no impact on credit scores.
If homeowners then want to go back to their original plan within six months they will be free to do so.
Again, no questions will be asked and there will be no impact on credit scores.
Households can also now seek advice from their bank or mortgage lender if they are struggling and this will also have no impact on their credit ratings.
Bankers will need to ensure tailored support is given to anyone struggling and deploy highly trained staff to help customers.
Help could involve reducing payments, a temporary payment deferral or part interest-part repayment.
Finally, in the extreme situation of a repossession, there will be a minimum 12 month period before a house can be taken away without the owners’ consent.

Independent
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s deal with banks to offer more help for mortgage holders struggling with their payments has been dismissed as “weak” and a “sticking plaster for a gushing wound”.
Economists and mortgage brokers said the agreement with lenders did not go far enough – predicting that Rishi Sunak’s government would soon be forced to intervene by coming up with direct financial support for homeowners worst hit by soaring interest rates.
Senior Tory MPs also urged the government to go further and be “more generous”, telling The Independent that “panicking” backbenchers fear that the mortgage crisis will cost them their seats in a general election wipe-out.

Net Zero

Telegraph
Households will be spared a levy on their energy bills to fund the hydrogen industry, Grant Shapps has told The Telegraph.
The Energy Security Secretary said that instead of forcing an expected £120 price hike on families, he favoured other ways of raising funds for the Government’s Net Zero drive.
It comes as stubbornly high inflation is putting increasing pressure on families’ finances.
On Friday, Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, announced extra measures to give mortgage holders more flexibility to cope with rising borrowing costs.
Mr Hunt and Rishi Sunak ruled out giving direct financial help to households after the Bank of England increased interest rates for the 13th time in a row, raising them to five per cent earlier this week, while inflation remains stuck at 8.7 per cent.
Last year, the Government intervened amid soaring energy costs, freezing average household energy bills at £2,500 a year.
In an interview with The Telegraph, in which he outlined his plans for Britain to use cleaner energy, Mr Shapps said: “I don’t want to see people’s household bills unnecessarily bashed by this.”
Hydrogen is a carbon and methane-free gas. Its use is seen in Whitehall as critical to help the UK wean itself off more polluting forms of energy in the push to tackle global warming.

BBC News
Householders will not have to pay more on their energy bills to fund hydrogen production, Grant Shapps has indicated.
An annual levy was expected to be introduced in 2025 to cover the cost gap between producing low-carbon hydrogen and polluting fossil fuels.
But, signalling a U-turn Mr Shapps said he opposed a direct charge on the bills of energy consumers.
He said: “I don’t want to see people’s household bills unnecessarily bashed by this.”
The Onward think tank has estimated the hydrogen levy would raise energy bills by around £118 per year for the average dual fuel household.
Writing in the Telegraph Mr Shapps said he did not want to see a “levy directly on households” but insisted it is vital the UK gets its hydrogen industry set up to take advantage of “massive export opportunities”.
“The way that’s funded will have to be further up the chain,” the Energy Security Secretary said.
This could potentially include landing the industry with the costs or general taxation.

ULEZ

Express
MPs are to debate whether local authority politicians like Sadiq Khan should lose the power to set road charging after thousands were outraged by the ULEZ tax grab.
Ministers will face demands to end the powers of Sadiq Khan to be able to impose road charging on motorists.
Tens of thousands of people signed a petition in the wake of his controversial decision to extend the Ultra Low Emmission Zone (ULEZ) scheme to the whole of London.
And there are fears local authorities around the country will try to replicate Mr Khan’s plans including, 15-minute travel zones planned by councils like Oxfordshire.
The petition has been signed by 55,000 people and has been chosen for a Commons debate.
However, the government has resisted removing powers from Mr Khan.
The petition is backed by Reform UK and Fair Fuel campaigner Howard Cox.
It states: “Revoke local government powers to charge CAZ, LEZ, and ULEZ.”

Covid

Mail
The Director of National Intelligence on Friday released to Congress their long-awaited report into Intelligence Community conclusions about the origins of COVID-19, and their assessment of the ‘lab leak’ theory.
In March, President Joe Biden signed into law a bill to declassify intelligence on the origins of COVID-19.
The DNI’s 10-page report did not provide any fresh conclusions as to the Wuhan lab, and shows the various agencies are divided as to the origin of the pandemic.
The Department of Energy, which oversees biological research labs in the U.S., concluded with ‘low confidence’ in February of this year that the virus most likely came from a lab in Wuhan. The FBI concluded the same with moderate confidence.
The National Intelligence Council and four other agencies disagree, saying the pandemic likely begun naturally.
The CIA, meanwhile, is on the fence and has been unable to say with certainty how it begun, given repeated blocks imposed by the Chinese authorities.

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