'Surprise surge' for France's left, and Reeves to unveil housing plans
![People react after the second round of the French legislative elections results at Place de la Republique in Paris, France, 07 July 2024.](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/999/cpsprodpb/2129/live/d367f820-3cdd-11ef-b290-bf157c2bad62.jpg)
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Many of Monday's front pages focus on what Rachel Reeves is expected to say in her first speech as chancellor.
The Daily Mail says she will "declare war on Britain's planning system", external.
The Daily Telegraph says Labour's promise, external to bring back mandatory housebuilding targets will raise fears the party will "push councils to build on green belt land".
The Times has a similar assessment, external on its front page, with the headline: "Homes on green belt in new dash for growth".
The Financial Times says, external shares in house-building companies rose after Labour's election win, in anticipation of bold action from the new government.
The i newspaper believes Labour is heading for a new "Brexit clash", external with the EU over migration. A German diplomatic source tells the paper that easier mobility for young people is a key priority for the bloc.
However, the article says Labour has ruled out free movement, and that the "party is reluctant to increase youth migration".
Separate analysis by the Times, external says "increasing mobility could take the new government into some difficult areas".
The paper says that while the bloc would welcome Britain back into the Erasmus student exchange scheme, the £135m a year cost was seen by the previous Conservative government as "prohibitively high".
The Telegraph says freeing prisoners, external who have served as little as 40% of their sentence is among the options being considered by Labour to address overcrowding in jails.
A prison service source is quoted by the paper as saying the proposal "feels like the only measure that buys time" with reports prisons could run out of spaces within weeks.
The article does not carry a direct response from ministers, but says no final decision has been taken and the matter will have to be agreed by the Cabinet.
The Daily Express uses its front page to lay out its own priorities for the new government. The paper, which is often critical of Labour, has unveiled 10 pledges for Sir Keir Starmer, external. They include supporting women's rights, saving high streets and protecting the countryside.
The Conservative MP, Esther McVey, tells the paper her party colleagues should "get behind" the proposals, and stop what she calls the "circular firing squads" within the party.
Several of the front pages react to the French parliamentary election. The Guardian shows a picture, external of people in Nantes celebrating projections that a left-wing bloc is on course to come first.
The Times says the country has been "plunged into political chaos", external after the coalition "fell short of an absolute majority".
The Financial Times says, external the election leaves the "EU's second-largest economy in limbo".
And the Sun reveals that the new defence secretary, John Healey, was "scrambled to a bomb shelter", external during his first official visit to Ukraine.
The threat of a cruise missile attack happened during his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. It was, the paper notes, an "unusual crash course for any British politician in the second day in the job".
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