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What the papers say – February 2

Images of the suspect in the south London alkaline substance attack feature across a majority of the front pages.

PA Reporter
Thursday 01 February 2024 22:55 EST
What the papers say (PA)
What the papers say (PA) (PA Archive)

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The Friday papers are dominated by the hunt for the suspect in the alkaline substance attack which left a girl and her mother with potentially life-changing injuries.

The Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail report the suspect, Abdul Ezedi, is understood to be a convicted sex offender who was twice denied asylum.

Meanwhile, The Sun says the injured mother screamed “I can’t see, I can’t see” after the attack.

Elsewhere, the Daily Express reports Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is considering taking a penny off National Insurance in the Budget.

But millions of Britons face a “stealth tax” effect which will drag them into higher rates of income taxation, according to the i.

The Times and Financial Times both lead with the Bank of England keeping interest rates at 5.25%.

The Guardian reports the US has ordered strikes against an Iran-backed militia following an attack on an American base on Sunday.

The Daily Mirror carries a plea from Paul Gascoigne to Marcus Rashford, urging the Manchester United forward not to “make the same mistakes as me”. Rashford is reported to have gone out in Belfast last Thursday night until 3am, before reporting ill the following day and going on to miss Sunday’s FA Cup win at Newport.

The Independent carries the latest in its campaign to grant Afghan soldiers asylum in the UK.

Civil servants have been told rolling their eyes in a meeting at work could be classed as a microaggression, according to the Metro.

And the Daily Star says an Instagram fraudster is pretending to be Liverpool’s potential new manager Xabi Alonso.

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