Newspaper headlines: Truss 'never given a chance' and 'zero chance' of meeting hospital pledge

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By BBC News
Staff

A photograph of Liz Truss appearing relaxed, sat on a desk, features on the front page of the Sunday Telegraph. She told the paper she was brought down as prime minister by the "left-wing economic establishment". She said successive Conservative governments didn't lay the groundwork for what she sought to do - because they failed to argue for a lower-tax, more deregulated economy. She criticised what she calls a "concerted effort by international actors" - including US President Joe Biden and the IMF - to challenge her plans for growth. Looking back on her time in office, Ms Truss says "soul-searching has not been easy".

The Sunday Times claims Rishi Sunak is prepared to pull the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights - if judges in Strasbourg fail to back the government's changes to immigration laws. The newspaper said the Prime Minister was finalising plans that will "push the boundaries of what is legally possible". If the laws are blocked by the European Court of Human Rights, he's said to be willing to "deploy the nuclear option before the general election" - by putting withdrawing from the Convention at the heart of the Conservative manifesto.

The Observer reports that only a quarter of the hospital construction projects promised by Boris Johnson have secured full planning permission. It says a pledge of 40 new hospitals was "at the heart" of the Conservatives' 2019 manifesto - with ministers "repeatedly" claiming they'd be delivered by 2030 - but an investigation shows only 10 don't face further planning scrutiny. An unnamed boss of an NHS Trust has told the paper there's "zero chance" of 40 new hospitals by the end the decade, and said "we'll be lucky to get eight". The government said it remained committed to all schemes that have been announced.

With the headline, "Two New Clues In Search", the Mail on Sunday focuses on the latest developments in the case of Nicola Bulley. Ms Bulley went missing nine days ago as she walked her dog close to the River Wyre in Lancashire. The paper reports that detectives are trying to piece together the last movements of Ms Bulley from data on her exercise tracker. The other line of inquiry is said to be the search for a "potentially crucial witness" - a woman in a yellow coat - though during the night, police said she'd come forward.

Return tickets are to be scrapped as part of the government's long-awaited reform of the railways, according to the Sunday Telegraph. It reports ministers will unveil plans for 'single-leg' pricing - with two singles equalling a return - making return tickets redundant. The Transport Secretary, Mark Harper, is also expected to commit to a new public body that will bring the operation of trains and tracks together for the first time, despite fears of "nationalisation through the back door".