What the papers say – June 10

The Government’s decision to scrap plans to have more primary school children back in class by September dominates Wednesday’s front pages.

The Daily Mirror and i lead with Education Secretary Gavin Williamson’s admission on Tuesday that plans for all primary pupils in England to attend classes before the summer break have had to be abandoned.

The Guardian says an “urgent national plan” is needed to return students to classrooms to avert the risk of an “epidemic of educational poverty”.

The Metro warns the Government’s “U-turn” risks a “generation of children … being left behind”.

The Independent reports teachers have been left to take the lead in finding “makeshift classrooms” in order to fit returning students.

And The Daily Telegraph says an Oxbridge study has revealed pupils younger than 15 have a greater chance of being “hit by lightning” than dying of Covid-19.

Elsewhere, The Times and Daily Mail lead with the continued removal of statues with “slavery links” following the weekend’s Black Lives Matter anti-racism protests.

Delays caused by Covid-19 may see 10 million people on NHS waiting lists by the end of the year, according to the Daily Express.

The Financial Times reports Vodafone has issued a warning against removing Huawei from the UK’s telecoms infrastructure, saying the move would strike a “terminal blow” against hopes of “leading the world in 5G technology”.

And the Daily Star leads with the BBC removing Little Britain from streaming services over the use of blackface in some sketches.