Thursday’s interest rate rise and its effect on the economy is the topic of several front pages on Friday. The twelfth consecutive hike means more than 200,000 Scots homeowners will have seen an average of £2,400 added to mortgage repayments, says The Herald. The base rate was raised from 4.25% to 4.5%.
The Times leads on inflation, and focuses on the role food prices are playing. The government has stopped short of accusing supermarkets of price gouging, but the Treasury held a call with the bosses of major food retailers yesterday urging them to do more to help people with basic living costs. The paper points to data showing the price of a pint of milk has risen 40% to 70p in the last year.
The Scotsman also looks at inflation, reporting that the Bank of England has warned inflation is likely to stay higher for longer than anticipated due to high borrowing costs. It says that soaring food prices have cast doubt over the UK government’s promise to cut inflation by half by the end of the year.
The i also leads with Thursday’s economics news, but goes in on the political implications. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has admitted that it is “not automatic” that the government will meet its pledge to halve inflation by the end of the year. The paper also says there is pressure on him and Rishi Sunak to cut taxes in order to alleviate cost of living pressures on families.
A government minister tells the Telegraph he wants to see people who left the jobs market during the pandemic return to work. Mel Stride says there are 400,000 fewer workers now than there was before Covid. The work and pensions secretary says the government will have more freedom to cut taxes if the labour force swells.
The Metro splashes on Scottish dentists joining the planned junior doctors strike. The BDA announced yesterday that dentists on the same contracts would join the 72-hour walkout over pay and said that 91% backed the industrial action.
“Battle of the band” is the Evening Telegraph’s headline as it leads on a very public falling out between members of Dundee band The View. A video emerged of frontman Kyle Falconer launching an attack on bandmate Kieren Webster on stage during their comeback gig in Manchester on Wednesday.
“View’s Kyle batters band pal on stage” is the Scottish Sun’s headline for the same story. The paper says fans watched “in horror” and the group cancelled their planned London show on Thursday night.
The Scottish Daily Mail claims Green Scottish government minister Lorna Slater has been accused of hypocrisy for chartering a private catamaran to visit the Isle of Rum today instead of using a government-owned CalMac ferry. Tory MSP Donald Cameron tells the paper that the reason given – the timetable not being suitable – will “go down like a lead balloon” with island communities.
Claims that the Scottish government plans to ban fishing in 10% of Scotland’s waters makes the top story in the Scottish Daily Express. The chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) will give a speech later saying that the industry is being “taken backwards” by the plans.
A couple have been left “fearing for their lives” after 300 vigilantes attacked their home because of false information from paedophile hunters circulated online. David and Shona McLean had to be moved to a police safe house after a mob surrounded their home.
A fourth publication on Scottish independence is due, reports the National. The paper says a new white paper called Building a New Scotland will present the case for independence.
The Courier’s lead says police lost track of a “high risk” sex offender after he was ejected from his emergency homeless accommodation in Dundee. Martin Reeves failed to tell police when he was evicted and was sentenced to another 10 months in prison.
A gruesome court story makes the front of the Evening Express, involving a woman accused of a £20,000 plot to chop off the finger of a “love rival”.
Plans have been approved to develop a former brewery in Edinburgh to provide 115 new homes, reports the Edinburgh Evening News. The paper says the move will help meet the city’s demand for social housing.
Consultants hired to save Aberdeen’s Belmont Filmhouse have said it must cut back on “arty films” and broaden its appeal, says the P&J. Councillors will vote next week on whether to search for a new operator, the story reports.
And the Glasgow Times examines the state of the night-time economy in the city, describing it as “on the brink”.
