Today's top media stories include coverage of attacks on police officers and the outsourcing of immigration services.
Police attacks
The Telegraph, Times, Sun, Mirror and Express all report on the comments by Minister for Business, Energy and Clean Growth, Kwasi Kwarteng that Britain needs to return to a culture of deference towards police that existed decades ago.
The Times reports that Mr Kwarteng described the death of PC Andrew Harper last week as “appalling” and said Britain was experiencing a generally “more violent and disrespectful age”.
The Telegraph reports that Mr Kwarteng said the Prime Minister’s pledge to recruit 20,000 police officers was a “good place to start in terms of reassuring the public”.
There is also widespread coverage in the papers and on the Today programme of the funding that has been raised to support the family and widow of PC Harper, as murder detectives continue to question 10 suspects.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said:
I’m devastated and appalled by the tragic death of PC Andrew Harper and my thoughts are with his loved ones, colleagues and the community he served with great pride at this immensely difficult time.
PC Harper died in the line of duty protecting the public and his incredible bravery and extraordinary sacrifice will not be forgotten.
Our dedicated police officers go to work every day to serve their communities.
They are courageous and professional people who confront danger on a daily basis.
The risks they take to keep us all safe are enormous.
As Home Secretary, I’ll do everything in my power to support them and crack-down on the cowardly criminals who commit appalling acts of violence.
Outsourcing of immigration services
The Independent reports that MPs and lawyers have called for an urgent review into outsourced immigration services following its coverage of the Home Office's contract with private firm VFS.
The Independent reported that the Home Office has made £1.6 billion from applicants looking to come to Britain since VFS took the government contract in 2014 – a nine-fold increase on the previous five years.
A Home Office spokesperson said:
The Home Office does not make a profit from visa applications. Income generated from visa fees funds the wider immigration system.
We demand the highest standards from our service providers and work closely with them to continually improve and make sure we offer customers the best possible service.