'Protester death toll soars' and 'EU demands "Farage clause"'
BBC | 12.01.2026 08:40
'Protester death toll soars' and 'EU demands "Farage clause"'
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The European Union wants to future proof its post-Brexit "reset" deal with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer as part of ongoing negotiations with the UK, the Financial Times says. The move has been dubbed the "Farage clause", after Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, which would see any future British government pay significant compensation if it quit the deal, the paper reports.The i Paper leads with a warning from US generals saying they are not ready to bomb Iran as Trump contemplates his next move. Iran has said it will retaliate if attacked by the US, the paper says, another reason why US commanders say "they need more time to prepare military strikes".Similarly, tensions are ramping up between the US and the Middle East amid the growing number of protester deaths in Iran, the Independent reports. Tehran has said it is "ready to launch strikes against US bases in the region", after Trump warned last week that the US would "hit them hard" if more protesters were killed, the paper says.The Daily Mail's lead image is of student protester Robina Aminian, 23, who was, it says, killed during "Iran's regime brutal crackdown on dissent". Aminian was shot in the back of the head as she left college to join one of the demonstrations, the paper says. The student had a "thirst for freedom", according to her uncle.The same image of Robina Aminian is used on the Daily Telegraph's front page, alongside calls for Sir Keir to proscribe Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation. Senior Labour figures and leading Tory and Reform UK members want the PM to "ban Tehran's 'terror army' in a show of solidarity with the demonstrators", the paper says.The Metro chooses to show the "brave women" behind the latest Iranian protests, with one woman pictured lighting a cigarette from a printed picture on fire of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The new uprising is believed to be more severe than during the "Women, Life, Freedom" uprising in 2022.The Times leads with the latest response to the West Midlands police chief's decision to ban Israeli football fans from a match between Aston Villa and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Birmingham. Senior MPs want Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to sack the chief constable, Craig Guildford, who deemed the match "high risk" because of unrest at previous Maccabi matches.
