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Several papers lead on the mistaken release of two prisoners from Wandsworth Prison in London. "Not again" is the Daily Mirror's assessment of the mishap, which occurred soon after sex offender Hadush Kebatu was wrongly freed from a prison in Essex. The blunders show that prisons are "in chaos", the paper writes.
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy was "grilled" by MPs at Prime Minister's Questions yesterday over whether he knew of any more inmates that had been wrongly released, Metro leads. The paper reports that Lammy was told about at least one of the prisoners before PMQs, but instead "castigated the state of the criminal justice system inherited from the Conservatives" at the despatch box.
The government was told to "get a grip on the prison fiasco" following the "shocking" release of the prisoners, the Daily Express writes. A "major manhunt" is under way to find 24-year-old Algerian national Brahim Kaddour-Cherif and 35-year-old William Smith.
The hunt for the two men comes as police chiefs warn that Labour's "soft-justice" reforms will "unleash a crimewave on the streets", the Daily Mail reports. The "unprecedented intervention" was issued as the government "was left reeling by another day of chaos in the creaking criminal justice system", according to the paper.
Lammy is "absolutely outraged" by the mistakes, which he says "expose deeper flaws" about the criminal justice system, the i Paper writes. The former security chief of Wandsworth Prison says: "This is a prison in freefall".
Sex offender Kaddour-Cherif was free for six days before the error was spotted, according to the Times, which reports that Lammy has been "snared" by the latest prison blunder. The paper writes that the mistake happened because of a "complete breakdown in communications", and officials only realised the inmate was missing when he was due to appear in court and could not be found.
During PMQs, Lammy "refused multiple times to say whether any more prisoners had been released in error", the Guardian reports. But Kaddour-Cherif's mistaken release was announced almost immediately after the "bruising session" of questioning ended. The paper's front page also features a photo of Zohran Mamdani, the winner of Tuesday's New York City mayoral election.
"Democratic cheer" is the headline for the Financial Times, which writes that Mamdani's victory is a "resounding snub to Trump". Elsewhere, the paper features warnings from Nvidia boss Jensen Huang that China "is going to win the AI race" with the US.
The Daily Telegraph leads on a new pay-per-mile tax for electric vehicle drivers set to be unveiled in the Budget. The paper also reports on whistleblower accusations that the BBC's coverage of transgender issues is subject to "effective censorship" by reporters who refuse to cover gender-critical stories. Asked by BBC News, a BBC spokesperson said: "While we don't comment on leaked documents, when the BBC receives feedback it takes it seriously and considers it carefully. We have taken a number of actions relating to our reporting of sex and gender including updating the news style guide and sharing new guidance, making our Social Affairs Editor responsible for this coverage, and where there have been concerns about particular stories, we have addressed them. We continually review our coverage to reflect developments such as the recent Supreme Court Ruling."
In a Hollywood exclusive, the Sun leads on the "acting return" of the Duchess of Sussex, who this week filmed scenes for the movie Close Personal Friends eight years after announcing her retirement from the screen. A source tells the paper that "this is a massive moment for Meghan".
Finally, the Daily Star reports that British troops based overseas will get free mobile use thanks to a "Remembrance Day tribute" from Vodafone. "Call of duty" is their headline.
