The Papers: ‘More pressure on Andrew’ and ‘Reeves eyes doubling of council tax’

Multiple papers lead with the ongoing fallout from King Charles III’s decision to strip his brother Andrew of his royal titles and evict him from the Royal Lodge. The Sunday Mirror leads with calls from some US congressmen for Andrew Mountbatten Windsor to face a US committee investigating the Jeffrey Epstein case. The former prince has consistently denied wrongdoing.

The Duke of Sussex has backed the King’s move, the Sun reports. The newspaper says it understands that California-based Prince Harry “supports Charles ending Andrew’s allowance”.

The train stabbing in Cambridgeshire leads the Sunday Times, with two people arrested. “Multiple passengers are rushed to hospital after terrifying ordeal”, the paper reports, adding “armed police were deployed” to Huntingdon train station.

“Hundreds of foreign killers slip into UK,” reads the headline on the Sunday Express. The paper writes its analysis showed hundreds of “murderers and rapists” were identified after a police check on foreign nationals carried out by the Criminal Records Office between 2022 and 2024.

Meanwhile, the Sunday Telegraph reports Chancellor Rachel Reeves is considering doubling council tax rates on the highest tax bands, set to impact “more than a million homes”, in the November Budget. The paper says it is part of Reeves’s efforts to “find £30bn to fill a black hole in the public finances”. Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch “warned the proposal would ‘hamper’ pensioners in more valuable properties who live on fixed incomes,” according to the paper.

“Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves will face an angry revolt if the chancellor breaks Labour’s manifesto pledge and raises income tax at the Budget,” the Independent writes, citing unnamed senior ministers who have spoken to the paper. It follows reports the Treasury is considering raising income tax by 2p, the paper says.

Two estate agents reportedly told the chancellor she would need a licence to rent out her home, the Mail on Sunday reports. Reeves told prime minister Sir Keir Starmer “she didn’t know she needed permit to let house”, the paper says. It quotes a source who says Reeves and her husband allegedly “approached a blue-chip estate agency Knight Frank about managing the property – and were warned about the need for the licence”.

The Observer’s front page is dominated by climate features and analysis, making references to the Conference of the Parties (COP) climate summit that’s due to take place in Brazil in November. The lead stories are “why climate action is the real growth story” and “the failure of the UN talking shop”.

“Kids in Yorkshire have the worst teeth in the country”, writes the Daily Star. Its headline piece focuses on a national study showing six out of the top 10 towns and cities for most teeth extractions involving children aged five to nine are based in Yorkshire.