Mariupol’s last stand and ‘travel chaos’ warnings

Several of Tuesday’s front pages focus on concerns over expected delays at the UK’s travel hubs this Easter. The Mail says emergency plans are being drawn up to prevent “airport chaos” ruining people’s holidays. It reports that backroom staff are being offered bonuses to work on check-in desks – but that travellers could still be in queues for hours.

Industry figures tell The Times it is taking up to six months to vet new security staff and cabin crew, who were taken on when operations expanded after the pandemic. They want ministers to speed up the process. The Financial Times focuses on the delays at Dover, saying the economy will be hit and that the chaos is causing “reputational damage” to the UK.

The Telegraph says there are calls for the Prevent counter-terrorism scheme to be overhauled after an extremist was found guilty of murdering Sir David Amess MP. Ali Harbi Ali had been referred to the de-radicalisation programme seven years earlier, but had only one meeting.

The i says that thousands of Ukrainians are being take out of conflict zones in their country and sent to remote corners of Russia. The paper also says Home Office insiders have admitted the UK scheme to help refugees will leave many people disappointed – and won’t be accelerated enough to appease its critics. Writing in The Telegraph, the television cook Prue Leith says she volunteered to take in Ukrainian refugees, but has still heard nothing from the government. She says some people who offered to help will just give up. They should have been encouraged, she says, “or at least kept in the loop”.

The Express leads with calls for a rescue package for pensioners facing a £1,000 increase in their bills. The Mirror says the rises have led to a “cost of living agony” and highlights one couple who fear they’ll never be able to put their heating on again. Sir Keir Starmer uses an interview with The Guardian to question whether super-rich politicians can relate to the public. He accuses Chancellor Rishi Sunak of “rank hypocrisy” for imposing more taxes on people given revelations last week that Sunak’s wife, Akshata Murty, held non-dom tax status in the UK. The Mail says the chancellor can, and must, help families in crisis.