Newspaper headlines: ‘Musk turns on Farage’ and ‘arctic blast hits Britain’

Several of Monday’s papers focus on Elon Musk’s change of heart about Nigel Farage. The Daily Telegraph says it throws rumours that the billionaire is about to donate millions of pounds to Reform UK “into doubt”. The Guardian calls the split “highly embarrassing” for r Farage, while the Daily Mirror says he has been “humiliated”. According to the Times, one of Farage’s allies has described Musk as a “moron”. The paper says the entrepreneur has suggested another Reform MP, Rupert Lowe, could take over the party. The article points out that Mr Lowe has taken to X to say “Nigel is the leader of Reform”. In its editorial, the Daily Mail says Elon Musk has plunged a “metaphorical dagger into the back of his supposed friend and ally”, and warns that Reform, or any other party, embraces him and his money at their peril.

The Mail’s front page highlights a campaign to crack down on e-scooters. It says collisions involving the vehicles have trebled in three years, and that there are calls for more to be done to regulate their use. The government says it’s “closely following” trial schemes in towns and cities that allow people to hire the scooters.

Joyous scenes of people making the most of the snow appear on some of the front pages. The Guardian and the Telegraph both run the same photo of a boy launching himself into the air on a sled. The Times has a picture of two poodles wrapped up in winter jackets. The Mirror is more serious: “Snow hell brings misery” is its assessment, alongside an image of people pushing a taxi in freezing conditions in Leeds.

The main story in the Daily Express is a warning from the National Crime Agency that “migrant Channel crossings will soar in 2025”. The paper says smuggling gangs are expected to mount a “big springtime push” to bring across tens of thousands people. It’s spoken to the NCA’s director general for operations, Rob Jones. He’s compared the flimsy build quality of the rubber dinghies to that of a “paddling pool”.

The “i” says the government is going to ditch plans to introduce a ban on new boilers from 2035. The paper says it understands the measure is being dropped, despite efforts to encourage people to switch to more environmentally friendly heat pumps instead. It says a separate scheme that will, in effect, ban boilers from being installed in new build homes will still come into force by the end of the decade. There’s no response from ministers in the article.

The Sun says residents of London’s Abbey Road – famous for its link to The Beatles – have been told by police to play classical music to scare off drug users and vandals. Under the headline “Get Bach”, the paper says the advice has been slammed by locals. In an email to one person, a police officer says that playing classical music is “proven to deter and prevent crimes”. The message goes on to say that it shouldn’t be played too loudly, as that could “cause other complaints”. The Metropolitan Police said that while the advice was “clearly well intentioned”, it didn’t reflect the force’s policy.