A variety of stories lead the Sunday papers. The Sun on Sunday reports that the Metropolitan Police is on “red alert” after the details of 47,000 officers and staff were hacked in a security breach. The paper says cyber criminals targeted the IT systems of a contractor that prints warrant cards and staff passes for the force, and that the information compromised includes names, ranks, and photos.
In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves says Labour will not introduce any wealth tax if it wins the next election. In what the paper calls a “bold bid for support from businesses and wealthier households”, Reeves is quoted saying: “I don’t see the way to prosperity as being through taxation”.
The Mail on Sunday says it has seen documents outlining plans by London Mayor Sadiq Khan to introduce a new pay-per-mile road tax for the capital. It says the plans would use the same cameras as those used to police the Congestion Charge and the controversial Ultra Low Emission Zone. The paper has also published a resignation letter from Tory MP Nadine Dorries in which she tells Prime Minister Rishi Sunak he has abandoned the “fundamental principles of Conservatism”. It comes two months after she announced her intention to stand down and follows letters from two town councils calling on her to do so because of what they described as a “continuing lack of representation” for her constituents.
A senior doctor warned that the neonatal unit where Lucy Letby worked was chaotic and unsafe for patients, according to the Sunday Times. The paper says that paediatrician Dr Alison Timmis wrote to Tony Chambers, then chief executive at the Countess of Chester Hospital, in December 2015 saying staff were “chronically overworked” and that “when things snap, the casualties will either be children’s lives or the mental and physical health of our staff”. It adds that Letby would often volunteer to plug staffing gaps, particularly at night, when she could use the opportunity of being alone with babies to attack and kill them.
The Daily Mirror says the families of some of Letby’s victims have expressed anger that Ian Harvey, former medical director at the hospital, has been able to take early retirement with a £1.8m pension. It quotes one relative saying the move is like a “get out of jail free card”.
Mr Sunak has pledged to launch a “life means life” crackdown to ensure that the worst convicted killers spend the rest of their lives behind bars, the Sunday Express reports. Speaking to the paper, the prime minister says he wants to make the streets safer, particularly for women and children. “I’m a dad with two young girls so these issues touch me personally,” he says.
And the Daily Star Sunday says that birdwatchers have been warned about the presence of nudists at Sherwood Forest. It says that “Robin Hood’s merry men in tights have been replaced by naked ramblers and sex-mad swingers”.
A variety of stories feature in the Sunday papers.
The Sunday Express, the Observer, and the Sunday Telegraph all carry pictures of Nadine Dorries, with each paper using the word “finally” to report her departure.
The Observer has interviewed some of Ms Dorries’s constituents in Mid Bedfordshire, where it says posters describing her as “Dosser Dorries” have started to appear. Half a dozen interviewees complain their MP is never there, with one saying she is as useful as a chocolate teapot, though one says Ms Dorries helped her find appropriate housing for her disabled daughter.
The Mail on Sunday and the Sunday Telegraph report that Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is planning a new tax that would see drivers charged per mile that they travel. The government has told both papers it will block any such plan, while a spokesperson for Mr Khan tells the Mail that the claims are “complete nonsense”.
Speaking to the Sunday Times, Mr Khan says he thinks he will be on the right side of history over the Ultra Low Emission Zone, a controversial scheme under which those in the highest polluting vehicles are charged £12.50 a day to drive in the capital. From Tuesday, the scheme will be expanded to cover the outer boroughs of the city. Mr Khan says people understand the need to take action on air pollution, which the paper says is estimated to kill 4,000 people a year in London alone.
The Sun on Sunday has some details about the cyber breach at the Metropolitan Police. It says undercover officers may have to be pulled from the field, potentially forcing police to pull the plug on crucial operations. A former commander of the force tells the paper the safety of staff has been put at risk.
Image source, Reuters
Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries has resigned as an MP more than two months after first announcing her intention to quit
Ministers are expected to bow to pressure to appoint a judge to lead an inquiry into nurse Lucy Letby, according to the Sunday Times. Letby was last week given a whole-life term for the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of six more. The paper says the inquiry would have the power to compel people to give evidence under oath.
The Independent has seen the latest NHS staff survey, which suggests that, in three quarters of hospitals, more than half of staff think their bosses would ignore a whistleblower. The NHS says it has reminded health leaders it is vital that staff feel able to raise concerns.
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has told the Sunday Telegraph that a Labour government would not raise taxes on wealth, property, capital gains, or top incomes. The paper says the pledges are the clearest break yet from the party’s 2019 manifesto.
The Sunday Express leads with a report that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wants to change the law on whole-life sentences – which remove any prospect of release – to make them the default punishment for all murderers who had a sexual motivation. The paper says the policy will delight Tory MPs and is set to be announced in the King’s Speech in November.
The Sunday Mirror says Mr Sunak and his wife, Akshata Murthy, have donated £3 million to a university in the US over many years. The paper reports the couple are named on a wall of high level donors at Ms Murthy’s alma mater, Claremont College in California.
The paper also says that Philip Schofield has spoken to a boss at TalkTV about a possible role on the channel. It reports that, after resigning from ITV over his affair with a younger colleague, Mr Schofield is feeling optimistic about the future. But a source close to him has told the paper he won’t be returning to television screens anytime soon.
