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Newspaper headlines: 'Tax wars' over mini-budget, and 'Tory jitters'

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Image source, Getty Images

"Tax wars" is how Metro sums up the fight developing between Labour and the Conservatives after Sir Keir Starmer said he would reverse the government's decision to axe the top rate of income tax if he gets into power.

The headline sits above a photo depicting a face-off between the Labour leader and the prime minister.

The Guardian says Sir Keir is "seeking to draw new battle lines" with Liz Truss over what it calls her "hugely divisive" policy.

It says the reversal could raise at least £2bn to plough into the NHS and other public services.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves tells the paper: "You can't build a strong economy without strong public services."

The i talks of "Tory jitters" after Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng said he would go further, with even more tax cuts.

The paper says backbench Conservative MPs have told it that colleagues have "definite concerns" after the market reacted negatively to last week's tax cuts for higher earners.

Tax cuts for the rich are "immoral", former football player Gary Neville tells the Daily Mirror.

In an interview with the paper, he says it "seems like madness" to give wealthy people like him help when others are having problems paying their energy bills.

The Daily Mail insists that the chancellor's pledge to carry on cutting taxes is a "boost for families" struggling with the cost of living.

The paper says a Treasury source has told it that Mr Kwarteng wants to "make the tax system simpler, better for families and more pro-growth".

The Sun applauds the chancellor for "recharging the economic defibrillators for another jolt of tax cuts in the New Year", adding that it is "about time".

The paper goes on to say that "the spleen-venting" over Mr Kwarteng's decision to ditch the top tax rate ignores that, throughout the Blair years, it was the "exact same" as the new 40% levy.

However, the Financial Times says the chancellor's strategy is leaving Conservative MPs and traders braced for further market turbulence.

It says "many Tory MPs" fear that Mr Kwarteng's "borrowing spree" - as the paper puts it - will fuel inflation and force up interest rates, with higher mortgage payments swallowing up the effect of his income tax cut.

The Times warns of "pay pain" for public sector workers, saying millions face a two-year squeeze before the general election.

The paper reports that the government has abandoned plans for a new spending review, despite forecasts that inflation may remain in double figures for the next year.

The Daily Telegraph leads on the war in Ukraine.

It highlights a warning from the United States that Washington will take "catastrophic" action if Russian President Vladimir Putin uses nuclear weapons.

The paper says the White House has told top Kremlin officials that "severe consequences loom" if Mr Putin follows through on his threat, made during an address last week.

And England's men's football manager, Gareth Southgate, is under the spotlight after his side's poor form in the run-up to the World Cup.

"I'll get the boot if we flop," is the Sun's back page headline. Southgate is carrying "the world on his shoulders," the Mirror says.