Welcome to your early-morning news briefing from The Telegraph – a round-up of the top stories we are covering on Saturday. To receive twice-daily briefings by email, sign up to our Front Page newsletter for free.
1. Archbishop of York attacks the ‘patronising’ London elite
The Archbishop of York has criticised the London “metropolitan elite” for treating people who are proud to be English as “backwardly xenophobic”.
The Most Rev Stephen Cottrell has called for “an expansive vision of what it means to be English” and for the country to rediscover a sense of “national unity”. Read the full story.
2. Middle-class students most likely to miss out on top university places
The rejection rate at Russell Group universities has soared to the highest point in almost a decade, new research has found, with middle-class students the worst hit.
This year almost a third (32 per cent) of applications were rejected by the country’s most prestigious universities, up from 27 per cent in 2020 and the largest proportion of rejections since 2012. Read the full story.
3. Exclusive: Lionel Messi expected to sign for PSG after French giants sensationally offer two-year deal
Paris Saint-Germain are to offer Lionel Messi a two-year contract in what could be the most sensational transfer deal in history.
Talks opened late on Thursday evening – within hours of Barcelona announcing Messi’s departure after 21 years at the Spanish giants. Read the full story.
4. Herd immunity slips further away as vaccine uptake among England’s young falls behind France
England’s vaccine rollout continues to stall, with European countries including France now having jabbed a higher proportion of young adults, data show.
Figures from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reveal that England has given a first dose to 61 per cent of under-25s, compared to 68 per cent in France and 66 per cent in Ireland. Read the full story.
5. Boris Johnson will not self-isolate after aide tests positive for Covid
Boris Johnson will not be self-isolating despite a member of his team on the recent visit to Scotland testing positive for Covid, Downing Street has said.
However, Mr Johnson could yet be told to stay at home, with Scottish contact tracers expected to be mapping out the interactions of the person involved. Read the full story.
Stay up-to-date with breaking news and the latest politics from The Telegraph throughout the day.
