Newspaper headlines: 'Wave of strikes' and Truss 'mulls 5% VAT cut'

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By BBC News
Staff
Reuters

Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab has been criticised after being pictured playing a laser tag game while Boris Johnson was away in Ukraine

A number of Sunday's papers lead on the cost of living crisis again.

The Observer says Britain is "facing a wave of coordinated industrial action" in protest over the issue. The Sunday Telegraph says Liz Truss could be planning to slash VAT by 5% to help lower household costs if she becomes prime minister.

The Sunday Times suggests the Conservative leadership frontrunner could go further by cutting income tax as well - following calls from her allies for an end to the current freeze on the personal allowance and higher rate thresholds.

Writing in the Sunday Express, Ms Truss insists that keeping the nation safe will be her number one priority if she becomes prime minister. She says she'll increase defence spending to 3% of GDP to help ensure the full renewal of Britain's nuclear deterrent.

The Sun on Sunday says the deputy prime minister, Dominic Raab, has sparked further claims of a "zombie" government after he was seen playing war games at a laser tag centre when Boris Johnson was away in Ukraine.

The paper's leader warns that "no government can afford to be absent without leave during a national emergency" and blames what it calls the "absurdly drawn-out" Tory leadership contest for creating a "power vacuum" in Number Ten.

The Observer argues that the silence of the Conservative government is "unforgivable", while the Sunday Mirror says it's "pretty shoddy" of Ms Truss to refuse to say how she'll help millions of struggling households given that it's likely she'll be running the country in eight days.

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Syco, the production company owned by Simon Cowell, is facing legal action after six former X Factor contestants claimed to have been bullied while on the show

Writing for the Daily Mail, the current occupant of Downing Street, Boris Johnson, delivers a valedictory address. The prime minister admits that energy costs will make the next few months "very tough", but insists he's "absolutely convinced that Britain's bounceback will be golden".

The paper's leader column says it is typical of Mr Johnson to take an optimistic view of the future, and argues the country should acknowledge the achievements of what it calls our "outgoing, proudly boosterish prime minister".

The head of the Environment Agency has warned that Britons need to be "less squeamish" about drinking recycled lavatory water, amid concern about future water supplies.

Writing in the Sunday Times, Sir James Bevan says that reprocessing water from sewage treatment to make it drinkable must form part of conservation efforts - or the UK "will face the threat of shortages in as little as 20 years". He describes the process as "perfectly safe and healthy" but acknowledges it's "not something many people fancy".

The Sunday Mirror reports that Syco, the production company owned by Simon Cowell, is facing legal action after six former contestants on the X Factor claimed to have been bullied during their time on the show. One says they and their fellow acts were "treated like pawns" before being "thrown into the world with very little aftercare".

There is no allegation that Mr Cowell was aware of or involved in the alleged behaviour. An X Factor spokesperson told the Mirror that the welfare of contestants "is our number one priority".