The majority of Monday’s newspapers lead with Nicola Sturgeon’s arrest as part of a police probe into the SNP’s finances. The Daily Express says the former Scottish first minister, who denies all wrongdoing, was held in custody and questioned for more than seven hours on Sunday before being released without charge pending further inquiries.
The Times also leads with Mrs Sturgeon being held by police investigating SNP finances. The former fist minister was detained as part of Operation Branchform which was started by Police Scotland after it received multiple complaints over the use of about £600,000 in donations to the SNP to fight a second independence referendum, the paper says. Mrs Sturgeon denies all wrongdoing.
The i newspaper says Nicola Sturgeon has described her arrest as “a shock and deeply distressing” and the paper says the arrest “deepens SNP crisis” for Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf.
Mr Yousaf has been told that Nicola Sturgeon “must be suspended” from the SNP in the wake of her arrest, the Daily Telegraph reports. The paper quotes Craig Hoy, the Scottish Tory chairman, who says the SNP “continue to be engulfed in murkiness and chaos”.
The Financial Times says that the SNP’s travails, compounded by problems on issues ranging from island ferries to recycling rules, have put the party on the “back foot” as it prepares for a UK general election next year.
The Sun also leads on Ms Sturgeon being questioned for seven hours by police. The paper says the it came on the day the SNP told Labour they were “willing to do a coalition deal”.
The Guardian reports that senior Conservatives have told Boris Johnson and his allies to “shut up and go away” as the privileges committee prepares to sign off what is expected to be a “damning” report into his conduct.
The Daily Mail says that Home Secretary Suella Braverman on Sunday blasted Sir Keir Starmer as being “in the pocket of the eco mob” as his party tries to “block a crackdown on disruptive protests”. Writing in the Mail, Ms Braverman reveales that Just Stop Oil’s current campaign of 124 slow walks has taken up 12,500 police officer shifts, “preventing them from catching serious criminals”.
The Daily Mirror reports on three British divers who were missing on Sunday night after the boat they were on burst into flames. The paper shows an image of the boat being engulfed by the blaze in the Red Sea off Egypt. Twelve other passengers, all Brits, were rescued along with the crew, it adds.
The Metro also leads on the three missing British tourists after a fire engulfed a ship during a diving trip on the Red Sea in Egypt. The paper says the blaze is said to have started in the engine room after an electrical short circuit as tourists were briefed about a dive on Sunday morning.
And the Daily Star says that the woman who found Richard III under a Leicester car park is “convinced the body of Henry I is also under a car park at Reading jail”.
