Newspaper headlines: Arms industry on 'war footing' and Channel tragedy
BBC News - Staff
Many of the front pages declare that the UK is on a "war footing" after Rishi Sunak's announcement of an extra £75bn for defence over the next six years.
The leader writers remain divided on the plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, after it received parliamentary approval.
The Mail argues Tuesday's drowning of five migrants on a flimsy dinghy is a reminder of why the Rwanda scheme has become a "moral duty". The Times believes the plan is "an ambitious idea well worth undertaking" - and criticises Labour for offering little in the way of a concrete alternative.
The Guardian warns there is no evidence that the policy will deter migrants. The Financial Times is worried the bill, which instructs judges to regard Rwanda as safe, sets a bad precedent. In its view, the measure legislates "to declare that the facts are not what the courts found them to be". The FT says this creates a "slippery slope" where future governments might declare black is white or that someone acquitted of a criminal charge is guilty.
The Mirror follows up its investigation into the murder of the BBC Presenter, Jill Dando, in south-west London in 1999. It says a key witness who was driving near the scene of the killing contacted the paper to say a man she saw running away was a Serbian assassin called Milorad Ulemek. The witness contacted the paper on Monday after it published the assassin's photo.
The Mirror claimed he had a striking resemblance to a man seen on CCTV near Ms Dando's home. Ulemek's lawyer said his client, who has been jailed for 40 years in Serbia for two assassinations, didn't wish to comment.
Fans of Jane Austen are being asked for help with a mystery which, according to the Times, might cast some light on the life of the cherished Pride and Prejudice author. The museum, Jane Austen's House, wants help in deciphering what it describes as the "spidery" handwriting of a manuscript written by her brother, Sir Francis William Austen. So it has set up a citizen science project asking people to transcribe the text, section by section - in the hope this will fill in some more details of the author's life.