Newspaper headlines: New strike 'chaos' and Johnson warns of long war

Kwasi Kwarteng

Kwasi Kwarteng said trade unions had amassed "war chests"

By BBC News
Staff

The Sunday Telegraph leads on an accusation from the Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng that Britain's biggest trade unions are bribing workers to go on strike by doubling the tax-free payments they make to those taking part.

The paper says there are "vast strike funds" and that the Unite union has put up posters advertising strike pay at £70 a day. Unison is said to have increased its daily payments to £50 last year.

Mr Kwarteng tells the paper: "It's obvious trade union chiefs have been quietly amassing a war chest, so they can effectively bribe workers into unleashing a summer of strike chaos."

A spokesman from the Trade Union Congress tells the paper that striking workers lose their wages and need the payments to feed their families.

Sir Keir Starmer's stance on the national rail strike is questioned by the Mail on Sunday.

It claims he is being accused of hypocrisy after leaked documents showed the Labour leader privately backed the action, while publicly saying he regretted the chaos it would cause.

The paper says it has minutes from a meeting of Labour's governing body in which Sir Keir said he opposed government moves to restrict industrial action by train drivers.

The paper sees a discrepancy between this and his openly stated view that he didn't want any strikes.

A spokesman for the Labour leader said he had been clear that the strikes should not go ahead.

Railway ticket offices in England are facing "the end of the line" according to the Sunday Times.

It says the rail industry has drawn up a confidential strategy to phase out paper tickets and force passengers to book online.

It says the plans to close or repurpose 980 offices could save up to £500m a year under "sweeping reforms" to restore a sound financial footing, after two years of public subsidies at a total of £27bn.

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The Observer reports that care workers from overseas are being exploited and charged thousands of pounds in illegal fees.

An investigation by the paper says it has uncovered a network of agencies that disguise their illegal practices as "processing" or "admin fees".

The Observer explains the bogus charges leave workers vulnerable to exploitation to pay off their debts.

People from India, the Philippines and Ghana are among those who have been charged between £2,000 and £18,000.

"Justice at last for James" is the headline in the Sunday People, which reports that the mother of the murdered toddler James Bulger has won her 29-year fight to have her call for an inquiry into his murder debated by MPs.

Denise Fergus tells the paper it is a "momentous step towards change".

The report says if a "ground-breaking" inquiry goes ahead it would look at how James's kidnap and murder by two 10-year-old boys in 1993 was handled.

It would also analyse the failed attempt to rehabilitate one of his killers.

Several papers carry pictures of a sea of luggage spilling out across Heathrow airport yesterday after a problem at baggage reclaim at Terminal two.

The Sunday Mirror calls it "a real case of holiday blues". According to the Sunday Times it was "bags of trouble" and for the Sun on Sunday the caption is "broke bags mountain".