'Olympics sabotaged' and 'La Farce!'
- Published
On the front of the iWeekend huge plumes of blue, white and red smoke blow into the air over the River Seine as the Paris 2024 Olympics formally kicks off with its opening ceremony. "Let the Games begin," it headlines. The paper's main story focuses on the hunt for saboteurs who launched an attack on France's rail network affecting hundreds of thousands of travellers.
"La farce" headlines the Daily Mail which also focuses on the rail attacks and torrential rain putting a "damper" on the opening ceremony. It writes the first opening ceremony to be held outside a stadium "backfired spectacularly with 320,000 spectators, VIPs, celebrities and athletes getting drenched". A new biography of the Princess of Wales is also teased on its front page with a picture of Catherine beaming.
"Olympics sabotaged" says the Times as it warns French authorities are braced for further attacks as they try to identify who was responsible for the arson attacks on the high-speed rail network's fibre optic cables at strategic points in the countryside. Spy agencies are trying to find out if a foreign state such as Russia was behind it, it writes. Meanwhile, Team GB's flagbearers Tom Daley and Helen Glover pose for a picture.
The Daily Mirror writes "chaos at the Olympics" as the tabloid too focuses on the French railways being "crippled by a string of arson attacks". It pictures huge crowds at the capital's Gare du Nord railway station, but it says the chaos did not stop the ceremony wowing crowds in the rain with a flotilla of nations and Lady Gaga performing.
On the front of the Daily Telegraph, flagbearers Daley and Glover recreate the famous scene from the Titanic on Team GB's barge along the Seine. The broadsheet reports hard-left agitators are suspected of carrying out the attack, as well as suspicion falling on Russia. It writes that Prime Minister Keir Starmer was also affected - he flew to France instead of catching the Eurostar as planned because of the disruption. The paper's chief sport writer describes the opening ceremony as "miraculous" despite it ridding itself of a stadium and being staged on a river.
Lady Gaga is surrounded by pink feathers as she performs at the opening ceremony. But the FT Weekend's main story headlines "Reeves to stall hospital and road projects" as it reports on the chancellor seeking to fill an estimated £20bn fiscal hole she attributes to the previous Conservative government. The paper observes the delay to big capital projects will be "awkward" for Labour who promised a "building boom" but the chancellor has insisted all public spending must be paid for.
"The greatest show on earth" says the Daily Express as it too uses the image of red, white and blue smoke blowing into the air from a bridge. The tabloid's reports the chancellor's claims of a £20bn black hole in Britain finances being labelled a "con". It quotes shadow treasury minister Laura Trott saying: "This is nothing but a con designed to mask Labour's broken promises on tax rises."
The chancellor is also set to announce millions of public sector workers are likely to receive an above inflation pay rise, the Guardian says. It writes Ms Reeves is expected to accept the recommendations of public sector pay bodies for pay rises on Monday - in a move estimated to cost up to £10bn.
Many of Saturday's papers lead on the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. "La farce" declares the Daily Mail, which calls the arson attacks on the French rail network "humiliating". The paper says the decision to hold the event partly on the Seine "backfired spectacularly" because of torrential rain. "Wet the games begin" is the headline on the Sun, external, which says the downpour did not dampen French spirits. The Daily Telegraph praised the "kaleidoscopic boat procession" and said the display befitted Paris's billing as "the city of lights".
The front pages also focus on efforts to track down those who caused the rail disruption in France. The Times says "left-wing militants and Russia" are among the suspects, external. The iWeekend says Russian agents are being "closely monitored" by European intelligence agencies. The Daily Mirror says a malicious state is a likely culprit, external. The paper's defence editor, Chris Hughes, says the attacks are "straight out of the playbook", external of Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.
The Eiffel Tower became a dazzling spectacle during a light show
Reports about the chancellor's forthcoming announcement about the state of the public finances also feature in many of the papers. The Financial Times says Rachel Reeves is set to delay a number of hospital and road projects. Officials tell the paper that she will use her speech on Monday to argue that she inherited "unfunded" projects. The Treasury has declined to comment on the article.
The Guardian says the chancellor will probably use the statement to confirm pay rises above inflation, external for millions of public sector workers. The Telegraph says it understands Ms Reeves will also point to the spiralling cost of housing asylum seekers in hotels, external. It expects the bill to be up to £10bn a year.
In its editorial, the Daily Mail accuses Labour of "taking us for fools". It says if the chancellor claims she is flabbergasted by the state of the public finances, she is either guilty of "extreme negligence or being dishonest", external. The paper says the bleak assessment is being used to pave the way for some "very painful tax increases".
The Olympic cauldron floats in sky in the shadow of the Louvre Pyramid
The Daily Express carries a similar warning from the former chancellor, external, Jeremy Hunt. He is quoted as saying Ms Reeves is "laying the groundwork for hiking up taxes". He is also sceptical that Labour is only now finding out about the government's finances. He says "the books have been open" since the Office for Budget Responsibility was set up 14 years ago. A Labour source says the Conservatives "spent taxpayers' money like no tomorrow because they knew someone else would have to pick up the bill".
The Guardian reports that a strategy for playing the Radio 4 panel show, Just a Minute, could help people with dementia. It highlights an academic study that suggests the best way to succeed at the game is to let go of your ambition to win. It says the show's rules - avoiding repetition, deviation and hesitation - cause "cognitive overload", which is also experienced by those with dementia. The paper quotes one of the most successful panellists, comedian Paul Merton, who says he avoids "brain fry" by focusing on keeping the show enjoyable, rather than trying to be victorious.
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