The Sunday Post carries a warning from a charity that elderly Scots must not be scapegoated by the unfolding crisis across the health service. Age Scotland told the paper it fears old and vulnerable patients are being made to feel responsible for taking up beds and resources.
A number of the front pages focus on the news that SNP members are to be given the choice of using the next UK general election or the next Holyrood election as a de facto independence referendum. The Scottish Sunday Express describes the move as a “U-turn” as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced in November that she intended to use the next general election as an attempt to show that a majority of people in Scotland supported independence.
The Scottish Mail on Sunday also leads with the same story, which followed a meeting of the SNP’s national executive committee on Saturday, and describes it as an “embarrassing climbdown”. Two different motions will be will now be put to members at a special party conference in March.
The Sunday National reports that Ms Sturgeon said the second option had been included in the motion in the interests of having a “full and open debate”. The paper also features a special feature from Ukraine by the paper’s foreign editor David Pratt.
The Sunday Times reports that peace talks between Prince Harry and the Royal Family could be held, under plans being discussed by those close to the King. It writes that insiders believe a reconciliation is “the only way forward” following the release of the prince’s memoir, and it must happen before the King’s coronation on 6 May, which Harry and Meghan are expected to attend, to stop it “becoming a circus”.
The Sunday Mail says Scottish Secretary Alister Jack benefited from a Government-backed £2m Covid loan. The paper says One Rebel – a fitness company part-owned by the multi-millionaire senior Conservative cabinet minister – received the huge taxpayer cash injection at the height of the pandemic. A spokesperson for Mr Jack said his shareholding in the company was “fully and properly declared in his register of member’s interests” and that he had no involvement in its day-to-day running.
A leading legal expert has cast doubt on the UK government’s ability to prevent Scotland’s new gender reform legislation from coming into force, amid speculation it could take unprecedented steps to stop the law from receiving Royal Assent, according to Scotland on Sunday. The paper also features a picture of Celtic players celebrating during the club’s League Cup semi-final win over Kilmarnock.
Scotland’s wild landscape is set to be hit by hundreds of super-wind turbines being proposed across the country that are up to four times the height of the original schemes, reports The Herald on Sunday. The paper says the structures will be taller than landmarks such as Big Ben and the Blackpool Tower.
The Sunday Telegraph leads with the pledge from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to slash “mind-boggling” NHS bureaucracy. He writes in the paper the situation for NHS patients is “intolerable and dangerous”. He also outlined plans for reforms including turning GPs into direct NHS employees and allowing patients to bypass the family doctor to make self-referrals to specialists. The paper observes it will be seen as a break from Labour’s “traditional veneration” of the NHS.
And the Scottish Sun on Sunday lead with a story featuring stars from Strictly Come Dancing.
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