The joint funeral of footballers Diogo Jota and André Silva are dominating Sunday’s front pages. The Sunday Telegraph covers the story with its main image, showing Virgil van Dijk and Andrew Robertson – Liverpool teammates of Jota – leading mourners in Portugal. Jota, 28, was laid to rest alongside his brother, Silva, 25, after they died in a car crash on Thursday. Leading the front page is the Conservatives’ attempt to draw a “clear dividing line” with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Reform’s Nigel Farage on welfare. “Axe sickness benefits for foreigners, Tories urge,” the paper declares, reporting that the party has called on the Labour government to restrict personal independence payments (Pips) and sickness top-ups to Universal Credit to UK citizens only.
“You’ll never walk alone,” says the Sunday Mirror, in reference to Liverpool FC’s anthem. It reports that Liverpool players gathered on Saturday along with hundreds of locals and supporters for the funeral of Jota, which was held at the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar church. Also featured on the front page is Spice Girls member Melanie Brown, also known as Mel B, who got married to hairstylist Rory McPhee on Saturday.
Van Dijk and Robertson are also pictured on the front page of the Sun on Sunday, with the players holding the brothers’ shirt numbers on wreaths at the funeral. Leading the paper is a tribute from Portugal’s manager Roberto Martinez, who said: “Their spirit will be with us forever.”
“Farewell quiet hero,” says the Sunday People, with van Dijk and Robertson featuring again on the front page at the funeral. Mel B’s “joy at wedding” is also pictured, with the 50-year-old singer tying the knot at St Paul’s Cathedral after a three-year engagement with McPhee, 37.
The Daily Star also bids “farewell to Anfield Ace”, with Van Dijk and Robertson again splashed across the front page at Jota’s funeral – alongside a headline that references Led Zeppelin’s hit Whole Lotta Love.
The main image on the front of the Sunday Times features Renee Smajstrla, an eight-year-old girl who was among those killed in flash flooding in Texas. Fifteen children were among those who died in the disaster on Friday, with a frantic search under way for survivors. Officials in Kerr County have said 27 children are still missing from a Christian youth camp located along the river. In its top story, the paper reports that “plans to shelve the two-child benefit cap are ‘dead’ after Labour’s £5bn retreat on welfare, according to Downing Street sources”.
“Rayner to put ‘banter police’ in your office,” declares the Mail on Sunday, with its exclusive revealing that “under new laws drawn up by the deputy prime minister, firms will be pressured into bankrolling ‘diversity officers’, whose jobs would include protecting staff from the content of overheard conversations.”
The Observer takes a look at the Salt Path – and how the film and Raynor Winn’s bestselling memoir were “spun from lies, deceit and desperation”. The book tells the story of Winn’s journey with her husband Moth walking the route from Somerset to Dorset, after being evicted from their farm and her husband receiving a devastating health diagnosis.
“Rayner to put ‘banter police’ in your office” is the headline on the front of the Mail on Sunday. It says the deputy prime minister’s overhaul of employment rights would pressure firms into hiring diversity officers to protect staff from the content of overheard conversations. The paper says the Conservatives have accused Angela Rayner of plotting to censor workplace banter. A government spokesperson says the legislation “will not affect anyone’s right to lawful free speech”.
The Sunday Times says it has spoken to Downing Street sources who say plans to lift the two-child benefit cap are “dead”. They have told the paper that MPs need to “understand the trade-offs” in failing to approve the government’s changes to welfare – measures designed to save the Treasury billions of pounds.
According to the Sun on Sunday, French police have been secretly using jet skis to place nets in the sea to stop migrant boats sailing to Britain. It says the mesh jams propellers while the dinghies are in shallow waters. The paper adds that a deal to return migrants to France on a “one in, one out” basis is still being worked out – days before French President Emmanuel Macron makes a state visit to the UK.
The Observer reports that thousands of people in England and Wales will lose the right to a trial by jury under plans to deal with the record backlog of cases. It says an independent review recommends that less serious cases are heard by a judge and two magistrates. The review was led by the retired judge Lord Leveson and he is quoted as saying “there’s no choice. We cannot carry on with the present system”.
Reuters
Virgil van Dijk and Andrew Robertson hold the shirt numbers of Diogo Jota and André Silva on wreaths at the funeral for the brothers in Portugal
Several front pages carry pictures from the funeral of the Liverpool player, Diogo Jota. “You’ll never walk alone” is the Sunday Mirror’s headline, alongside an image of pallbearers carrying his coffin. The Sun on Sunday and the Sunday Telegraph have photos of Liverpool teammates holding floral tributes in the shape of Jota’s football shirts.
A few of the papers focus on the relationship between Liam and Noel Gallagher, after the first date of their Oasis reunion tour. The Mail says Liam “fled the stadium” at the end of the gig while Noel was still on stage. “Half an hour away” is the headline in the Sun, which says they were staying in hotels 30 minutes from each other. The band’s representatives have refused to confirm the location of their hotels. A source tells the paper that the brothers are “happy families at the moment and they want to keep it that way”.
Reuters
