Newspaper headlines: Truss rejects handouts and China cuts ties with US

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By BBC News
Staff
Reuters

Tory leadership candidate Liz Truss pledged to reduce the tax burden instead of giving handouts to households

The winter is looking "incredibly bleak" for the NHS in England, reports the Times. It says Whitehall projections suggest as few as six in 10 patients will be dealt with by A&E departments within the current target of four hours.

Health leaders are said to be particularly concerned that an increase in Covid infections and a resurgence of winter flu could push the NHS to breaking point.

A Whitehall source tells the paper ministers are aware of the situation but there is a limited amount that can be done before Boris Johnson's successor is in place.

The Daily Telegraph says days of disruption are expected for the NHS 111 system after it was hit by a cyber attack. People are being warned to be prepared for delays if they call the non-emergency phoneline, but to continue using the resource if necessary.

An NHS source is quoted as saying the service is holding up, but there are concerns that the situation may change over the weekend.

An editorial in the Daily Star says the UK has been left "rudderless" by what it calls a "zombie government", with the prime minister and chancellor both on holiday.

According to the i Weekend, Tory MPs fear ministers are now in "demob" mode - while the head of the CBI has criticised the "vacuum" at the heart of government as Britain drifts into recession.

In an interview with the FT Weekend, Liz Truss repeats her determination to defy what she calls the "abacus economics" of the Treasury. She says that, if prime minister, she will do things in a Conservative way - by reducing the tax burden, not giving handouts to households.

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The Daily Telegraph says Ms Truss has been backed by its readers - with six in 10 of those surveyed saying they preferred her over Rishi Sunak.

The Daily Mail's front-page headline is: "reckless cyclists face jail crackdown".

It says the Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, wants bike riders to be treated the same as drivers who kill pedestrians - although it concedes he may not be in the job to push through any change in the law.

"Scorcher goes on" says the Daily Mirror comparing parts of the UK to a "dustbowl" after the prolonged dry and hot weather.

The paper includes photographs of how parts of the country have been affected by the conditions - including the cracked bed of a reservoir in the Brecon Beacons and a once green cricket pitch in south east London where most of the grass has turned brown.

The Telegraph says the chief executive of Neighbourhood Watch is urging people not to "snitch" on people who ignore hosepipe bans, the first of which was introduced across the Isle of Wight and parts of Hampshire yesterday.

John Hayward-Cripps says if you know someone who breaches the restrictions rather than going behind their back to the authorities, have a conversation with them instead.

A couple of the papers have picked up on "invasion" of thousands of spider crabs at Porthgwidden beach at St Ives in Cornwall.

The Sun's headline is: "Claws". The paper says the crustaceans have taken advantage of heatwave to gather in the warm shallows. A photographer tells the paper: "tourists were squealing at the sight of them".