What the papers say – November 19

Dismay over the Government’s abandoned HS2 plans for the North features prominently among an array of topics on the front pages on Friday.

The Daily Mirror splashes with “HS2-Faced”, and says the Tory party pledged 60 times to complete the high-speed rail link to Leeds, which has now been abandoned, in their 2019 election campaign.

The Independent says more than 20 million Britons will miss out on promised rail improvements as a result of the backflip.

The Guardian runs with a front page headline highlighting the “fury” over the delayed and downgraded rail plan, citing one critic who calls it a “betrayal of the North”, while also featuring missing Chinese tennis play Peng Shuai on its front page.

In other news, The Daily Telegraph has a grim front page headline of “Lockdowns return to Europe as virus surges”.

The Daily Express and The Times lead on Home Secretary Priti Patel launching a “furious” attack on the EU over the ongoing Channel migrant crisis.

The Daily Mail says Prince Charles’s charity has been “plunged into fresh crisis” by a watchdog investigation over a possible “cash-for-honours” scandal.

The Financial Times reports a fresh interest rate cut in Turkey has stoked inflation concerns.

Metro leads on cricket racism victim Azeem Rafiq having been “caught out” by texts he sent in 2011 which included alleged antisemitic slurs.

And the Daily Star leads on a ghost story involving TV’s Richard Madeley.