Child benefit cap 'to be lifted' and fires 'twist'

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.

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