Newspaper headlines: 'Horror' and 'heroes' on London Bridge By BBC News

Staff Published duration 30 November 2019

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All of the front pages lead on the stabbing attack at London Bridge, which resulted in the deaths of two members of the public, and a further three being injured.

The Sun's headline is "heroes of the bridge". It has a photograph of armed police surrounding the man who stabbed two people to death during the attack at London Bridge on Friday.

In its leader, the Sun salutes members of the public who helped restrain the attacker, whom it says had no way of knowing a suicide explosive vest he was wearing was fake.

The front of the Daily Telegraph is largely taken up with a photograph of one of the people who confronted the attacker. The man is clutching a blood-stained knife that he has taken from the suspect.

The paper has a comment piece written by Richard Walton , a former head of the Met Police's Counter-terrorism Command. He describes the attack as "a vivid reminder that the UK continues to face an enduring and long-standing threat from terrorists".

Mr Walton believes questions will be asked about whether it could have been prevented. He concludes by saying that "if there are lessons to be learned from this case, MI5 and Counter Terrorism Command will learn them very quickly indeed".

The paper's leader argues that the "swift action of the emergency services", and members of the public who risked their lives to restrain the attacker, represent British values that should be celebrated.

"The heroes who stood up to terror," is the headline in the Daily Express. It says the response showed the same grit and courage often referred to as the "Blitz spirit", in honour of those who endured the bombings of London in the World War Two.

On its front page, the Daily Mail has a picture of the attacker being confronted by two men, one of whom is using a fire extinguisher to hose him down, while the other keeps him at bay with a long pole.

"Bravery on the bridge" is the headline. The paper has six pages of picture sequences and reports, outlining in detail what it calls the "five minutes of mayhem as terror returns to London Bridge".

The Daily Star calls it "a remarkable display of pure bravery" that undoubtedly saved the lives of many others.

The Daily Mirror's leader points out that the UK has experienced the brutality of terror before - but that does not make what happened on Friday any less horrific. It suggests that "the best response is to use the rest of the election campaign to uphold the values of tolerance and fairness the terrorists so despise".

The paper believes the most urgent line of inquiry will be whether or not the attacker had any links with terror cells. It says this will involve trying to establish whether he had travelled to places like Syria and Iraq.

HuffPost UK suggests that the attack "appears to mark a horrible new norm - with terrorist incidents afflicting the last three major democratic events in Britain."

Over in politics

image copyright PA Media

The Sun urges the prime minister to make himself more prominent in the election campaign.

Questions have been asked about why Boris Johnson chose not to take part in a Channel 4 debate about climate change and why he hasn't confirmed that he will be interviewed, like other party leaders, by BBC journalist Andrew Neil. The Sun believes Mr Johnson should be "less timid, less defensive, more bullish about what he can achieve".

'Harm and distress' in the NHS

The Guardian reports that millions of NHS patients in England might be prevented from having routine treatments and tests as part of plans to save money. The paper says it has seen a list of 34 procedures - including hernia repair and the surgical removal of kidney stones - that would no longer be available.

The Patients' Association tells the Guardian that putting barriers in the way of previously commonplace care would cause "harm and distress". But the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges - one of the organisations that has compiled the list, along with NHS England - is quoted as saying: "medicine continually evolves and it's right we don't carry out tests, treatments or procedures when the evidence tells us they are inappropriate or ineffective".

'Political crisis' in Malta

image copyright Reuters image caption Prime Minister Muscat is facing calls to resign over the murder of Daphne Curuana Galizia

The Guardian also turns its attention to what it describes as the "political crisis" in Malta caused by the government's handling of the investigation into the murder of political journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia two years ago.

The paper sees the situation as a threat not just to Malta, but potentially to the European Union as well. "If the rule of law is undermined on this island," it concludes, "the corruption could spread".

Warning over Hong Kong

With more protests taking place in Hong Kong this weekend, the South China Morning Post has an opinion piece written by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet. In it, she warns the territory's government that the only way to solve the current crisis is to begin what she calls a "long-overdue process of meaningful dialogue" with people from all walks of life.

'Car disc fiasco'

Under the headline "car disc fiasco", the Daily Mail reports that the scrapping of paper tax discs for vehicles in 2014 has resulted in the loss of an estimated £281m in revenue. It says drivers are either forgetting to pay, or are deliberately avoiding payment. The Mail's opinion column describes it as a "disaster".

Cheers to that

Finally, the Times reports that there could be health benefits to drinking certain types of beer.