Newspaper headlines: 'Wish you weren't here' and Sunak's crisis warning

Cars queue in many lanes at Dover PA Media
By BBC News
Staff

With the headline "Wish You Weren't Here', the Daily Mail is one of several papers to use its front page to highlight the long delays at the Port of Dover.

The Daily Mirror and the Daily Star both feature photographs of huge queues of cars waiting to board ferries.

According to the Financial Times Weekend, a "ferocious row" has broken out between the UK and France over post-Brexit border controls - after port officials accused Paris of providing a "woefully inadequate" number of passport control officers.

The Daily Telegraph quotes unnamed sources who claim the disruption was a "deliberate move" by the French following tensions in the wake of Britain's withdrawal from the EU.

Conservative leadership candidate Rishi Sunak has told the Times that Britain is facing a "national emergency" - and he would put the government on a "crisis footing" from day one if he succeeds Boris Johnson.

The former chancellor says he will announce policies to tackle five problem areas over the coming weeks, including the economy, NHS backlogs and illegal migration.

His strategy, says the paper, "is to argue that the government he was part of fewer than three weeks ago is not doing enough".

PA Media

Mr Sunak also insists the scandal over his wife's tax affairs earlier this year has made him stronger.

And he rejects claims he can't be trusted to tell the truth, arguing he's being more honest than his leadership rival, Liz Truss, about the economic challenges ahead.

The Guardian warns there could be a "bonfire of rights" if Ms Truss defeats Mr Sunak in the battle for the keys to Downing Street.

The paper says her pledge to scrap all remaining EU regulation within 15 months is part of her attempt to position herself as the "Brexit delivery prime minister", with her timetable "notably accelerated" from that given by Boris Johnson's government.

The Daily Express claims the victory hopes of the foreign secretary have been boosted by a poll which suggests that voters believe she'd be a better prime minister than the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.

PA Media

A report which says Britain has one of the most costly health systems in the developed world - but some of the worst health outcomes - is featured by the Daily Telegraph.

The study by the Civitas think tank warns that health spending is costing the country about £10,000 per household a year - the third highest share of GDP in Europe.

It also suggests almost 50,000 die in the UK each year for want of effective medical intervention - with only the US faring worse amongst wealthy nations.

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Finally, the Financial Times Weekend notes that wealthy buyers are seeking sanctuary from the current economic turmoil by investing in bricks and mortar - after new figures showed sales of London's priciest homes hit their highest ever level this year.

Estate agents say 294 properties worth £5m or more were sold in the capital in the first half of the year - almost matching the 308 in the whole of 2019.

The FT says most buyers were domestic - and credits the spate of activity at the top end of the market to the willingness of sellers to negotiate on price, driven by fears that a worsening economy could trigger price falls later this year.