Several front pages lead with stories over benefits for children and the elderly. The Observer has a full-page spread on the government’s plan to scrap the two-child benefit cap, describing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s Downing Street operation as bowing to “party pressure”. The paper reports the Treasury has been told to find the £3.5 billion that getting rid of the benefit limit on families will reportedly cost.
The Sunday Telegraph’s top report says Nigel Farage plans to “outflank” Sir Keir by “committing to scrap the two-child benefit cap and fully reinstate the winter fuel payment”. The paper says the Reform UK leader “will appeal to left-leaning voters in a major speech”, also noting his “intervention is likely to provoke a fresh wave of demands” from Labour rebels calling for “planned policy shifts on both fronts”.
Campaigners have warned Downing Street there will be “hell to pay” if the government fails to restore the winter fuel allowance to all and pensioners are “left out in the cold”, according to the Sunday Express. The paper says Sir Keir has been warned he faces “political failure” over the issue, which the government has changed its mind on – after originally scrapping the policy entirely, then restoring it to some older people.
The Sunday Mirror leads with a “new twist” in the investigation into arson attacks linked to two properties and a car linked to Sir Keir. The paper says the fires are “being probed for possible Kremlin involvement”, specifically “whether Russia recruited” the three men charged by police in connection. They deny the charges.
The Daily Mail also reports on the security services looking into the possibility, with the paper saying “any suggestion” the attacks had Kremlin links would “present an extraordinary escalation in tensions” between the UK and Russia. It also notes police have said the two Ukrainians and Romanian charged with the attacks allegedly “conspired with others unknown”.
Former sub postmaster Sir Alan Bates has said the government is running a “quasi kangaroo court” dealing with Post Office scandal compensation, according to the Sunday Times lead. Writing in the paper, the campaigner says he has been given a “take it or leave it” settlement offer worth “less than half his original claim”. Sir Alan has accused the government department responsible of “reneging on assurances when they were set up” and said pledges that compensation schemes would be “non-legalistic” were “worthless”, the Times reports.
Strictly star Wynne Evans has told the Sun he was “forced to apologise” over a comment he made on the dancing show, denying it was a “sex slur” but acknowledged he had “made some mistakes”. The paper says the “devastated” singer said he did not see the apology statement put out by Strictly bosses and said he was not aware of the meaning of the phrase. He told the Sun: “I’m, not a bad guy, I’m not a misogynist.”
The Sunday People leads with warnings to young people abroad from a former drug mule, following recent arrests of two British women. Natalie Welsh, who was jailed for smuggling drugs, has warned that they can get “lured in by gangs” who “prey on vulnerable people in need of quick cash”, the People says.
The popularity of saunas in the UK is rising like the vital thermometers they use, according to the Daily Star. “Brits are getting hot under the collar” for the Scandinavian-style sweatboxes, the paper says. New public saunas ” are popping up in record numbers” and sales of domestic ones are booming as they become “the new pub”,” the Star also notes.
An accusation by Post Office campaigner Sir Alan Bates that the government is presiding over a “quasi kangaroo court” system for compensation for victims of the Horizon IT scandal is the lead in the Sunday Times.
In a column inside the paper, Sir Alan explains that many full claims from victims – including his own – have not been settled because of demands for documentation that he says many cannot provide. He says a new “independent” body to deal with public sector scandals is needed to ensure a better way of delivering justice. The Department for Business says anyone unhappy with their compensation offer can have their case reviewed by an independent panel of experts.
The Observer declares that Sir Keir Starmer is going to scrap the child benefit cap – which means that parents can currently claim tax credits only for their first two children.
The Sunday Telegraph expands on Nigel Farage’s promise that Reform UK will do the same and re-instate the winter fuel allowance for pensioners. Farage, the paper says, is working to “outflank” the prime minister in an appeal to “left-leaning” voters.
The Telegraph also reports that President Donald Trump has sent US officials to meet British pro-life activists over what it says are concerns that their “freedom of speech” has been threatened. It reports that the five-person team met five activists who had been arrested for silently protesting outside abortion clinics in the UK. The paper says it is the latest sign of the Trump administration’s willingness to intervene in domestic British affairs. The Cabinet Office has declined to comment.
The Mail on Sunday reports that MI5 is investigating whether Russian spies are behind a series of arson attacks on property linked to Sir Keir. The paper says any suggestion of the Kremlin’s involvement would be “an extraordinary escalation” in tensions between the UK and Russia.
The story is also the lead in the Sunday Mirror which quotes a source as saying that Russian involvement was the “first option considered”. It says the government is looking at whether the three Ukrainian-born men, who have been charged in connection with the attacks, may have been “recruited” by the Kremlin. They deny the charges. The police are said to be keeping an “open mind”, the paper says. Downing Street has not commented.
Athletes who use weight-loss jabs like Ozempic and Wegovy to enhance performance may find themselves banned from the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, according to the Sunday Express. The paper says the World Anti-Doping Agency has added semaglutide, the jab’s active ingredient, to a list of substances it monitors.
A number of the papers carry photos of the latest addition to Boris Johnson’s family – a baby girl called Poppy, born last Wednesday. She’s the fourth child for the former prime minister and his wife, Carrie, who said she was their “final gang member”.
